Time Out: Weekly quiet times for the youth worker’s soul.
(by Adam Wormann)

I love how my kids are an endless source of life lessons, even when doing things like eating cereal. My oldest, who is five really wanted yogurt for breakfast (with tons of other stuff thrown in there too, because anything is better if you load it up with more stuff). As he was eating, he saw me eating a bowl of “Oh’s,” the greatest cereal of all time. All of the sudden, that became what he wanted. No more yogurt with coconut and pineapple and whatever else he threw in there. What was awesome 5 minutes ago was now second rate. He refused to eat the yogurt and only wanted Oh’s.

It’s amazing how this type of thing takes a foothold in our lives. Today it’s cereal, and in 5-10 years, it’s going to be a cell phone. First he’s going to want one, then he’s going to want the one his friend has. Actually, in 5-10 years, who even knows what it’s going to be. He’s going to want a video game system where you don’t have to use your hands, just imagine stuff. He’s going to laugh at the poor system I have where you have to use a controller. What’s good enough and lots of fun, isn’t when we see something better.

The problem with the thought process is a lack of contentment. It’s a thinking that says “what God has given me is no longer good enough…I need something better.” It says that what God has given someone else is better than what He’s given me. We don’t even know that something else is better until we see it. Part of it is caused by our consumer culture, and part of it is just the condition of our own hearts.

Hebrews 3:5 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Money can be expanded to be just about anything – our stuff, our ministries, our jobs….whatever they are. Sure there’s times where we’re not in good situations and need to move on, but that’s not always an issue of contentment.

Ask yourself:

-Am I making Christ my primary focus and source of contentment?

Adam Wormann is Pastor of Next Generation Ministries at Sayre Woods Bible Church in Old Bridge, NJ where he’s been serving for the past 8 years. He is also one of the mentors at Life in Student Ministry and the editor of the “Time Out” series. You can stalk him on Twitter and Facebook, or read his blog if you’re really bored.

Posted on January 31, 2011