31-day Bible study on money (7, continued)

Contentment

More on Philippians 4:11

If there is anything in which I am to be discontent, anything in which I should not be satisfied, it is in my lack of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Sometimes this seems so hard to do because of the abstract aspects of knowing a person I cannot see and have never physically met. But in those moments when I would be dissuaded from pursuing that knowledge, I must remember the concrete aspects. That I can known Him more through His word. That I can learn of Him through the walk of those who have taken heed to His word. I have everything I need to learn everything I need to know about Jesus Christ. Paul said that, in comparison to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, everything else that he might count as gain for himself -- every reason he might put confidence in the flesh -- was as rubbish. This appraisal was a willfull thing on his part -- a choice that Paul made. No matter how intrinsically valuable things might seem to him, he would willfully consider them to be rubbish, or losing prospects. I want to be able to say this in my own life. I want it to not be simply an academic exercise, but a real outgrowth of my real relationship with Jesus Christ. I want Him to be so real to me that He is my first thought and all others are second. Lord, make yourself real in my life and teach me how to see all of your reality.