Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Becoming Like Christ – Day 166 – 1 Timothy 6:6-10 – Godliness With Contentment – Growing As Disciples
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV)
Great Gain
I have had the wrong idea of what constitutes great gain. How so? For much of my life I have pursued material possessions and worldly wealth. I have wanted all the comforts and pleasures that the world had to offer. I have been discontented. I have had an almost continual never-ending desire for more. I have wanted the next latest and greatest new thing. This desire and pursuit is like a never-ending treadmill. I want off. That’s good.
What do you want? I will tell you want I don’t want. What don’t you want? I don’t want to misspend my life. I don’t want to chase after what will never satisfy. I don’t want to pursue what will amount to nothing. What will amount to nothing? All the worldly riches and material possessions of this life will amount to nothing. I brought nothing into this world. I will take nothing out of this world. That’s true. It makes no sense to spend my life on what will amount to nothing. No, it doesn’t.
Let’s go back to my question. What do you want? Rather than trying to acquire worldly wealth and material possessions, I want to store up treasure in heaven with you. What do you mean by that? I want to bear abundant, eternal and lasting fruit for your kingdom. The fruit I bear for you is like treasure in heaven. How so? Let’s say, you ask me to reach out to someone to tell them about the new life that they can have in you. Let’s say, that person gives their life to you and begins to follow you as their Savior and Lord. One day that person will be in heaven. Yes, they will. I will have had a role in them coming to know you. You will have used me to accomplish your purposes. You will have worked in and through me. That is how I want to spend my life. I want to be used by you. As I allow you to use me, I will be storing up treasure in heaven. Yes, you will. So, instead of trying to store up worldly wealth and material possessions I will store up treasure in heaven with you. That will be very good. Help me to do that. Yes, I will. Thank you, Lord.
Lord, for much of my life I have been trying to acquire worldly wealth and material possessions. No more of that. It is the desire of my heart to store up treasure in heaven with you. Help me to bear abundant, eternal and lasting, fruit for your kingdom and glory. Amen
For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:
Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.
Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.
By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved Copying not permitted www.GrowingAsDisciples.com
