Contentment...

When I began reading Proverbs 5 this morning, a tiny voice in my head said, "Oh no...the adultress chapter...I hate this chapter..."

As long as I've been reading Proverbs, I think I've had the same reaction to this chapter -- I don't relate. I've not been an adulteress or an adulterer, and so I ask, what does this have to do with me? The good news about making a commitment to write a devotional on each chapter as it comes is this: I am forced to look harder, dig deeper...and hopefully, find a message that applies to all of us, regardless of our experience or lack of, with the subject of adultery.

Verse 15 says, "Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well." The context of the comment is the writer's admonition to an adulterous man...and goes something like this: "Stay home and enjoy your own wife." Simple enough, on the face of things, but what is the underlying principle that works for every reader?

It is said of scripture that it is a living text, powerful enough to sort between our heart and soul, to divine the underlying motives that lie within the heart of every person...and for me, the living lesson that penetrates my heart this morning is contentment.

The writer of Proverbs 5 goes on to say this:

"Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?"

Why indeed? I believe it's about contentment, or the lack thereof. When we are discontented with what we have, or we see something we want and don't have, the temptation is to satisfy our discontent. It's just one of many examples of "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence..."

It is a fact of the human condition that we are each of us, very good at rationalizing our behavior, because in the end, we often make poor choices, and the protection of our image and egos may require an eloquent justification of those choices.

It might be about sex, or money, or fame, or a nicer car...or any of a hundred other things...but at the end of the day, the lesson of the proverb tells us that the way of the adulteress leads to death...in other words, it doesn't end well...

I know all too well the struggle with envy and discontent, and so I can relate to the message of Proverbs 5, if I'm willing to look closely enough at my heart.

Contentment is a worthy pursuit, even if it is elusive to achieve. The price of unchecked discontentment might be more than we are willing, or able to pay....