'Tis the Season...to Be Satisfied

(This message was originally published on December 5, 2013) Time magazine reports (December 4, 2013) that Fox Sports has sold out of advertising airtime for the 2014 Super Bowl. A 30-second segment of advertising time sold for over $4 million. Obviously, advertisers assume the Super Bowl's viewers are prime candidates for their products.

Over the next few weeks, children will make their Christmas lists. Loved ones will exchange gifts. And come January, or just about the time of the Super Bowl, many Americans will be confronted with large credit card bills from this season's shopping sprees.

Scripture teaches us to find our contentment in the Lord and in godliness. "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment..." (1 Timothy 6:6, ESV)

1 Timothy 6:6 and the verses that follow provide a timely lesson for any season, especially this one. How can we find satisfaction and experience contentment? Here are a few insights on contentment in the midst of such commercialization. (Here are a few "talking points" and applications with the Scripture references I thought I would share with you. For the sake of time and space, here is my condensed version.) 

1. LOOK FURTHER AHEAD.

"for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." (1 Timothy 6:7, ESV)

2. LET ENOUGH BE ENOUGH.

"But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs." (1 Timothy 6:8-10, ESV)

3. LEARN HOW TO BE A RICH CHRISTIAN.

"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." (1 Timothy 6:17-19, ESV)

Be humble.

Trust God, not wealth.

Enjoy the blessings of the Lord.

Employ your resources for the Lord.