“Be Content,” J.C. Ryle, 1885

 Be Content What With You have


"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." -Hebrews 13:5
The words which head this paper are soon spoken, and often cost the speaker very little. Nothing is cheaper than good advice! Everybody imagines that he can give his neighbor good counsel, and tell him exactly what he ought to do. 

“be content with such things as ye have” 

These words are very simple. A little child might easily understand them. They contain no high doctrine; they involve no deep metaphysical question; and yet, as simple as they are—the duty which these words enjoin on us, is one of the highest practical importance to all Christians.
Yet to practice the lesson which heads this paper is very hard. To talk of contentment in the day of health and prosperity is easy enough; but to be content in the midst of poverty, sickness, trouble, disappointments, and losses—is a state of mind to which very few can attain!
Let us mark how the great Apostle of the Gentiles speaks, when he would persuade the Hebrew Christians to be content. He backs up his injunction by a beautiful motive. He does not say nakedly, "Be content;" he adds words which would ring in the ears of all who read his letter, and nerve their hearts for a struggle: "Be content with such things as you have, because God has said—Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
From the sermon “Be Content,” J.C. Ryle, 1885
https://gracegems.org/23/Ryle_be_content.htm

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