If you were to attain your worldly desire, you might find yourself in a better position amongst your peers, but your soul would not have improved. Possessing things does nothing to improve the inner man, but possessing contentment does. Finding contentment in God conforms us closer to the image of Christ—something possessions cannot do.

We are consumers at heart. Many people today believe that life’s goal is to strive for abundance so they can consume abundantly. The underlying assumption is that this is the way to happiness. However, possessing contentment is better than possessing anything you believe will make you happy. It is common to think, “If I only had this one thing, then I would be satisfied,” but if we cannot be satisfied without it, we will likely not be satisfied with it. Jeremiah Burroughs gives us four reasons this is the case.

Before he lays out these reasons, he gives us an example of a King who wanted to go to war against another nation. One of his political advisors was concerned about this decision, so he asked the ruler, “Why is it necessary to go to war against the nation?” The king replied, “Because then we will be able to conquer the neighboring nation easily.” His advisor asked, “And what then?” The king answered, “Then we will have access to three other nations lined up beyond that. The advisor pressed further, “Then what?” The king smiled and said, “That is the glorious part. Then we will be quiet, take our ease, and feast every day. We will be merry with each other continually.” The advisor asks, “We are secure as a nation now, without any threat. Can you not sit down and be merry now?”

This short-sightedness is the condition of many of our hearts.

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