'Fatherly love is the bedrock of Christian contentment'

Contentment is one of the great Christian graces. Paul tells Timothy that “godliness with contentment is great gain”. He tells the church in Philippi to be “anxious about nothing”.

Our Lord Jesus commanded His disciples not to worry about life. How could Jesus say this? How could He expect and even demand that His disciples not worry? Is this not sheer idealism? Is it not actually absurd to expect believers always to be content and never to be anxious? Clearly not. Our Saviour never engaged in idealism or mere wishful thinking. In fact, Jesus gives His disciples reasons why they should not worry. He makes the observation that worrying never accomplished anything of any significance. But more importantly, Jesus tells His disciples that their lives are cared for, watched over by and dearly loved by their heavenly Father. It is the fatherly love and care of God that is the bedrock of the Christian’s contentment.

It is this great truth that Jesus laboured to impress on His disciples as He instructed them on the life of faith in a fallen, hostile world. In Matthew 6, in the midst of His teaching on what is called The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks seven times of “your Father”, three times of “your heavenly Father”, and once of “our Father”. It is as if Jesus is chiselling into their minds and hearts the bedrock truth that the sovereign Lord, the “great and awesome God” (Dan.9v4), is their gracious, loving and generous Father. Jesus had called these men into a life of consecrated discipleship. He had called them to leave the security of their families and their livelihoods to follow Him into a life of evangelical uncertainty. Naturally the Twelve would be asking, “But how will we eat? Who will care for our bodily needs? What if we need new clothing?” Jesus’ response to these legitimate concerns is to set before His disciples the Lord God Almighty’s foundational relationship to His children. “God is your Father, your heavenly Father. He can be trusted to provide for all your needs. You need never be anxious. The Lord God Almighty is bound to you because of your belonging to me.”