Melissa Kruger reminds us that the Christian life is entirely paradoxical. She wrote the following in a recent blog at Ligonier:
He who gains the most trinkets and toys does not win contentment in the game of life. When the world is gained, it may provide momentary happiness, but it is impossible for lasting joy to be sustained from temporary pleasure.
In contrast, the upside down way of the gospel leads us to deny ourselves, and in doing so, we encounter a surprising result: we find life. Contentment is won not by gaining, but by giving. Not by addition, but by subtraction.
Years ago I heard it put this way, “He who dies with the most toys still dies.” One secret of contentment, Kruger says, lies in your ability to sacrifice instead of gain. Clinched fists can never know contentment. Contented hands open to whatever God brings and willingly let go of whatever God takes. Your thoughts?