⁸If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Contentment is a commodity in short supply. As noted before, the dictionary defines this word as the state of desiring no more than what one has, to be satisfied with what one possesses. The advertising industry continuously conditions us to want what they are selling. The science of selling has become a major industry. Business execs are not stupid when they pour huge amounts of resources into their marketing efforts, hiring expensive specialists to create the need, the craving for the new products being produced, through creative and compelling ads. Often their goal is to stir up discontentment and create desire. Unsuspecting consumers find themselves inexorably drawn to buying the product in the dream that it will meet their need.

This is not to say all advertising is evil, for how shall we know what products will meet our needs unless someone makes them known to us? But we must be on guard against discontentment. To be sure, new and better things can make our lives easier and possibly more enjoyable. But when the desire for those things disrupts our contentment with what we do have, we step into troubled waters.

At the most basic level, Paul says, if we have food and cover (clothes and shelter), we have what we need. This was not a new concept to Timothy, but a reminder to him so that he could convey to others what he had learned already from Paul. For Timothy had spent considerable time traveling with Paul and was with the apostle when he wrote to Philippian believers:

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:11–13)

Adam and Eve experienced this struggle when they had everything to enjoy except the fruit of one tree. The taste of the fruit did not tempt them, but what it represented. Eating it would give them something they didn’t have: the knowledge of good and evil. Having everything else was not enough; they wanted more. The tempter created the context for discontent. And it led to Adam and Eve’s sin. So Paul’s command here is not a minor injunction but affects the heart of our relationship with God! Therefore, let us be content.

Lord, help me hold fast to contentment against constant temptations otherwise.