v. 16 – malcontents,

Devotional:

Have you ever wanted what you didn’t have? Have you ever wanted to be somewhere in life you weren’t? We all have. I call it the “myth of there” and we all buy into it from time to time. It is the idea that if we can just get “there” we will finally be content. If we can just get a certain amount of money in the bank account, or that promotion at work, or that relationship started, or that co-worker to leave, or our kids to change or, or, or, or…… then we will get “there.”

To be malcontent is to be unsatisfied with who you are, where you are, and what God’s given you. The myth of there is one of the most peddled lies that comes out of the modern version of the American dream. The inherent right of each person to equally have life, liberty, and share in the pursuit of happiness has become, at least in America, the entitled belief that each man should be handed whatever life they want without any restrictions while being free to do whatever they want without consequence and pursue happiness as an end instead of a means. It is safe to say we have lost our way, but for the believer in Jesus, this should not be the case. So often in the west, we confuse our identity as Americans with our identity as Christians. We have, in a lot of ways, created a blended belief system between the ideals of our nation and doctrines of scripture.

This confusion has created more malcontent amongst believers than anything else I’ve encountered. We are so often trapped between our American measure of success and our desire to be faithful to God, and they rarely line up. We talk a big faith game but when it comes down to it we are more worried about our 401k’s than we are our souls’ happiness in God. We have lost who we are and where we are, and we need to be reminded of what we have already been given.

If you are reading this and have placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and repented of sin, you are now a child of God. That is who you are and it should inform you how to view yourself and the world now. The old you has (and is) passed away and the new you has and is here to stay forever (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is not something you have done for yourself; it is something God has done for you and is doing to you.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-6)

You have been seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. That is where you are. And last, but certainly not least, is what you have been given:

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15)

“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)

These verses detail only a few of the thousands of gifts you have received through God’s grace. Be who you are, be where you are, and rejoice today in what you have been given. You need not go “there” to find joy and contentment because joy and contentment came here to find you through Christ Jesus our Lord.

REFLECTION:

In what ways have you bought into the “myth of there”? What are three things you have been given because of the grace of God that you can rejoice in today?