Proverbs describes this temptation very sharply.
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant!”
— Proverbs 9:17
What is not ours often looks more attractive.
But several chapters earlier, Proverbs had already taught:
“Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.”
— Proverbs 5:15
It is as though God is saying:
Enjoy what I have already given you.
Do not keep looking at someone else’s well until you forget that God has given you a well of your own.
When One Thing Hides Many Blessings
This pattern was already visible in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve lived in abundance.
There were so many trees they were allowed to enjoy. There were so many blessings God had already given.
Yet their attention finally settled on the one tree that was not given to them.
This is how wrong desire works.
It makes the one thing we do not yet have look so large that we can no longer see the many things God has already given.
That is why God said:
“You shall not covet...”
— Exodus 20:17
Coveting is not merely wanting to possess something.
The problem begins when our heart says:
“What God gave to that person should have been mine.”
At that point, gratitude begins to disappear and comparison begins to rule the heart.
But There Is a Cliff on the Other Side
Yet being content does not mean becoming passive.
There is another extreme that is just as dangerous:
laziness.
We can say:
“Very well, I am content with what I have.”
But then do nothing with what God has entrusted to us.
That is not wisdom either.
Proverbs repeatedly warns us about laziness.
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!”
— Proverbs 6:6
God does not only give us things to enjoy.
Many things He gives are also trusts for us to manage.
Our time.
Our family.
Our work.
Our abilities.
Our opportunities.
Our possessions.
Our ministry.
All of these are in our hands for a time.
And one day we must answer:
What did we do with what God entrusted to us?
Two Cliffs
There are therefore two cliffs we must avoid.
On one side:
Coveting another person’s portion.
We keep looking at someone else’s field until our hearts are filled with envy, disappointment, and a feeling that we never have enough.
On the other side:
Wasting our own portion.
We have a field, but never cultivate it.
The path of wisdom lies in the middle.
Do not covet someone else’s field.
But do not allow your own field to become filled with thorns either.
God does not ask us to become someone else.
He asks us to be faithful with the portion He has entrusted to us.
Perhaps another person received five talents.
Perhaps we received two.
The question is not:
“Why did they receive more?”
But:
“What am I doing with what God has given me?”
Content, Yet Still Growing
This is the beautiful balance.
Contentment makes us stop comparing.
Faithfulness keeps us from stopping our growth.
Contentment guards our hearts from envy.
Faithfulness guards our lives from laziness.
Contentment says:
“God, what You have given me is enough for me to be grateful.”
Faithfulness says:
“God, I will manage what You have entrusted to me as well as I can.”
We do not need to pursue another person’s portion.
We only need to cultivate wholeheartedly the portion God has already placed in our hands.
Because in the end, God will not ask whether our field was larger than someone else’s field.
What we long to hear is:
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
— Matthew 25:21
Perhaps this one sentence is enough for us to carry throughout the day:
Be content with what God gives, and faithful in managing it.
Contentment brings peace to our hearts.
Faithfulness makes our lives fruitful.
Let Us Pray
Lord, teach me to see the blessings You have already given, instead of continually looking at what I do not yet have.
Keep my heart from desiring another person’s portion, but also keep me from the laziness that wastes the portion You have entrusted to me.
Teach me to be grateful for my portion, cultivate my field, use my abilities, care for my family, use my time, and carry out faithfully every responsibility You place in my hands.
Give me a contented heart, diligent hands, and faithfulness to the end.
Amen.