March 1, 2005

[Rev. Doc]

Contentment In Life

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you.'"
Hebrews 13:5

A king wanted to test the wisdom of two of the wisest men in his court. Two men were given a silver goblet, each containing equal portions of crystal clear spring water. Each was asked what he saw in the cup. The first man looked and said he saw a half-empty goblet. The second man replied, "My cup is half full." The men were then asked to drink the contents of the cup and relay how drinking the liquid made them feel. The first man complained that the water tasted fine, but there was not enough, he wanted more. The second man then took his turn. "The water tastes good and it has quenched my thirst."

The king smiled and, finally, declared who was the wisest man in all his court. "It is you," he said, turning to the second man. Now I will tell you why. Looking to the first man, he said,"The cup represents one's life, the world in which you live. When you looked into the cup, what you saw was a cup half empty, even though the goblet contained the finest spring water in all the land. Instead of sipping and finding satisfaction in its contents, you desired more. In life, you will never see all your many blessings, for your greed and lust for more will always cloud your thinking."

The king then turned to the second man. "When you looked into the cup you saw a cup half full. So, too, will you regard life in this way, reaping all its many blessings and being grateful for the gifts bestowed upon you. A half full cup is not a full cup, yet its contents can still be sweet and satisfying."

The moral of this story is that life is not always perfect, yet how we view our cup will determine what mind frame we have when sipping of its contents.

Prayer: Ask God to help you realize that contentment is not found in things, but in His presence.

"Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor."
~Benjamin Franklin