The Picture of Contentment

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Today's Passage: Psalm chapter 23
Memory Verse: Psalm 23:1

What is at the root of all the overeating, excessive buying and failed marriages? Why are people of God finding themselves in the very same situations as those of the world: sick, broke, divorced, busted and disgusted? One very simple word comes to mind: LACK. We think we are missing something that we don't have or can't get, so we have to obtain it on our own. In truth, we have everything we need, but we really only want what makes us feel good -- even if it's bad for us. In the message on Sunday, we found out that this is an unhealthy appetite for things that will never satisfy.

Through the anointing of God, David paints the most vivid picture of what we really should be walking in-- contentment-- using a sheep. Contentment is actually the opposite of lack, which is a carnal desire to have the God- void filled. Since Adam and Eve allowed the enemy to deceive them into thinking they needed more than all they had been given in the garden, this void was created. So those who have a relationship with Christ need to see this picture. Sheep have a reputation of being mindless animals, following their shepherd dumbly wherever he goes with the staff. They can't think for themselves, so they depend on him to provide for them everything they NEED.

The shepherd is solely responsible for taking the sheep where the best grass is, and where they can drink tranquilly without having to worry about predators jumping out to get them. Hungry wolves have to watch from a distance as the shepherd confidently protects them. Even when they stray without noticing the danger, as sheep are known to do, the shepherd will use the rod to remind them not to do that again. As a result of all this tender care, the sheep know that in perilous times, the shepherd will do everything in his power to protect them, even at the expense of his own life. That's why they do not hear or trust the voice of any other shepherd (John 10:2-6).

The parallel here is that WE are the sheep of our Lord's pasture. We have no idea how to take care of ourselves, and certainly no clue what is best for us. So we MUST depend completely on His will for us. He provides everything we need to sustain us: why do we need to look for anything more? He sacrificed His Son for us, and so we can trust Him to protect us from all evil. Even when we have to be subjected to chastisement or suffering, it is ultimately for our good. God hurts when we pine after things that He already plans to give us in His time. Today, may we make up our minds that we will be like the sheep in the pasture of our Shepherd, Jehovah Roha. That is the true picture of contentment.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the revelation of the sheep. You are my Shepherd, and I don't need a thing. All my desires are in You. My steps are ordered in Your ways, and I will follow You by faith, not by sight. In Jesus' Name, Amen.