Contentment

It is 16th November 2021, Tuesday morning and this is your friend, Angus Buchan with a thought for the day.

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” Luke 15:31

That is right, it is the story of the Prodigal Son and the oldest son being very jealous of his younger brother coming back home. I looked at the Oxford Dictionary - Jealousy means: “Envious of someone else’s possessions, achievements or advantages.”

We need to be very careful and have a good look at ourselves because, you know, jealousy can actually destroy a person’s life, it is self-destructive. Remember what Jesus said? He said:

“The first shall be last, and the last, first.” Matthew 19:30.

Have you ever looked at that magnificent painting painted by Rembrandt van Rijn, that famous Dutch painter? I have got it on your device - Have a good look at it. It is the story of the Prodigal Son. But can you see how angry and resentful the older son is?

He has got everything. His father told him, “Everything I have is yours”, and yet he is so resentful because his brother has come back home... totally distraught, lost everything: self-confidence, reputation, money, the lot. But his dad is so happy that he has come home, once he was lost and now he is found. We need to be so careful how we conduct ourselves. You see, the older son had everything anyway.

I remember so clearly, (I think about four years old) I came into the house one day and I said to my mother, that lovely Scottish lassie, I said: “Mom, who do you love the most?” (What a question!) “Dad or me?” I was the oldest in the family. She looked down at me with those beautiful eyes and said: “Angus laddie, I love you both the same but it's a different kind of love. The love I have for your father and the love I have for you are different but I love you both the same.” I said, “Thanks mom”, and ran outside to go and play in my sandpit thinking to myself, “Yip, she loves me the most!”... Not really!

I want to say to you today:

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”
1 Timothy 6:6

Just remember the fact that Jesus died for you, it's all you need to know.

God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.