SATISFIED
“A man shall be satisfied with good
by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompense of a man’s hands shall be
rendered unto him.”
Proverbs 12:14
Proverbs 12:14
We
will be satisfied with good by what we say.
To be satisfied means to have enough.
It denotes happiness, contentedness, and completeness. According to this proverb it is directly
related to our speech. Good words and hard work pay off. They bring reward and satisfaction. The man who guards his tongue and uses his
words rightly can pillow his head in peace.
He can rest confident that he has sown good things and that reward will
come.
There
are so many other Bible verses about what comes out of our mouths. For example:
Matthew
15:11 “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which
cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”
James
3:10, 11 “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to
be. Doth a fountain send forth at the
same place sweet water and bitter?”
Proverbs
25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”
Proverbs
15:2 “The tongue of the wise useth
knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.”
From
just these four you see that our speech can be either a curse or a
blessing. Our speech, they say, betrays us. Our choice of words, intonation, and volume
are strong indicators of what is taking place in our hearts. Remember that verse in Luke 6:45? “A good
man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good;
and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which
is evil: for of the abundance of the
heart his mouth speaketh.”
What
are your words like? Full of anger? Impatience?
Envy? Remember – if you wind up
having to eat your words, be sure they suit your palate. Are you satisfied with your speech? Do your words bring good things to your life?
SATISFIED
“The backslider in heart shall be
filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.” Proverbs 14:14
We
simply must address the first phrase of this proverb. The backslider is filled with his own
ways. Those who chose to allow the
desires of their own hearts to drive their lives will find themselves filled
with more and more desires. They will
never be satisfied. Why? Simply because the things this world offers
will never truly satisfy.
The
next phrase, then, speaks volumes, “a good man shall be satisfied from
himself.” There is much to be said about
a person who is satisfied with his life.
The wonderments, strivings, and discontentedness of the self-driven man
have been replaced with resolve and acceptance.
Graciousness and gratitude prevail.
The struggle to collect more stuff or to climb the ladder has been
replaced with a calm and settled heart.
The
law of sowing and reaping has brought this person good fruit and it is directly
proportionate to what he has done in his life.
He has sown peace and he is reaping peace. He has sown righteousness and he is resting
in righteousness. He has been faithful
and God is proving himself faithful.
Surely
this would be the desired end of a life well lived for all Christians. To come to the place in life where we are
settled in Christ, secure in His love, and comfortable with whose we are and
what He has done with our lives. Satisfied that we have done what God
required. We have run our course, we
have kept the faith – we are satisfied.
Well? Are you?
Or are you still looking for one more thing to make you satisfied?
SATISFIED
“He that loveth silver shall not be
satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also
vanity.” Ecclesiastes 5:10
Solomon,
the wisest and wealthiest king that ever lived knew that once a man’s heart is
set on a thing, be it money, fame, cars, or computer games, he is never
satisfied. The desire for more overtakes
all common sense and thwarts any level of contentment.
Walls
of DVD’s, video games, technological toys, and even comic books can be the
evidence of a life overtaken by desire and greed. And, lest we think that only men fall into
this trap, count the shoes, makeup, trinkets, clothes, and even books that many
women hoard and collect.
There
are even TV shows now addressing this problem of hoarding and collecting more
stuff than a person actually needs. It
is not a problem hidden any more.
Because of the advertising industry we are bombarded with sales pitches
and promises of an easy life, or a happier life, or a better life. All the while we are placing ourselves in
more bondage as we convert rooms to store our precious stuff. We hide our eyes from our credit cards bills
and struggle to pay the basic expenses while we are fixated on getting another
DVD or another book.
Solomon
calls this vanity. It is empty. It does not satisfy. It constantly demands more. It is never enough.
Wisdom
dictates that we honestly look at our “stuff” and discern whether or not we are
caught in such a trap. One way to know
is to ask yourself, “When I get low and I need encouragement, what do I
do?” If your answer is buy another video
game or go shopping, then you may be on the wrong path – an empty path. One shopping trip will lead to another. One video game will lead to another. It is a downward spiral – one that never will
satisfy.
So,
when is enough enough?
SATISFIED
“The fear of the LORD tendeth to
life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with
evil.” Proverbs 19:23
Serious
Christianity – the type that operates in the fear of the Lord – has a direct
tendency to life, to all good, to eternal life. (Matthew Henry) The writer of Proverbs assures us that the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. It prolongs our days. It gives us strong confidence and is a
fountain of life. With it come riches,
honour and life.
This
Proverbs goes on to add two blessed promises to those who live in the fear of
the Lord – satisfaction and safety. To
abide satisfied is to be complete and full.
It is to know confidently that your Lord is watching over and caring for
your life, and, to have that heart that is not self condemning – confident of
your standing in Christ.
To “not be visited with evil” is not the
absence of trials or afflictions, but the knowledge that the fear of the Lord
keeps sin away from the door. Evil won’t
come knocking at the door because the wise Christian can see it coming.
This
tells me that to have a satisfied life is not just settling for what I have,
but rather, accepting all God has for my life.
As I live with the fear of the Lord before me I create the conditions
for God’s blessing. I create an
atmosphere of thanksgiving and expected blessing. I know that every good gift that comes my way
has come directly from the hand of God.
I also know that every trial has been filtered through His love and is
for my benefit and His glory. Hard times
do not remove my satisfaction, they enhance it as I see God at work in my life.
Are
you a serious Christian? Are you living
in the fear of the Lord? Is your walk tending to life? Is it bringing satisfaction and security in
Christ?
SATISFIED
“As for me, I will behold thy face
in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when
I awake, with thy likeness.” Psalm 17:15
I
want to do something totally different here – I am simply going to give you one
lengthy quote from Henry Ward Beecher on this verse.
“…Patiently
and assiduously did that noble artist (Michelangelo) labour, toiling by day,
and almost by night, bringing out his prophets and sibyls and pictures wondrous
for their beauty and significance, until the work was done. The day before it was done, if you had gone
into that chapel and looked up, what would you have seen? Posts, planks, ropes, lime, mortar, slop,
dirt. But when all was finished, the
workmen came, and the scaffolding was removed.
And then, although the floor was yet covered with rubbish and litter,
when you looked up, it was as if heaven itself had been opened, and you looked
into the courts of God and angels. Now,
the scaffolding is kept around men long after the fresco is commenced to be
painted; and wondrous disclosure will be made when God shall take down this
scaffolding body, and reveal what you have been doing. By sorrow and by joy; by joys which are but
bright colours, and by sorrow which are but shadows of bright colours; by
prayer; by the influences of the sanctuary, by your pleasures; by your
business; by reverses; by successes and by failures; by what strengthened your
confidence, and by what broke it down; by the things that you rejoiced in, and
by the things that you mourned over – by all that God is working in you. And you are to be perfected, not according to
the things that you plan, but according to the divine pattern. Your portrait and mine are being painted, and
God by wondrous strokes and influences is working us up to his own ideal. Over and above what you are doing for
yourself, God is working to make you like him.
And the wondrous declaration is, that when you stand before God, and see
what has been done for you, you shall be “satisfied.”….And when God’s work is
complete, we shall stand before him, and, with the bright ideal and glorified
conception of heavenly aspiration upon us, looking up to God, and back on
ourselves, we shall say, “I am satisfied” for we shall be like him. Amen.”
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