Finding Joy in the Familiar: Embracing Contentment

Devotional

Day 1: Embrace the Familiar with New Eyes

Finding contentment in the "same old thing" requires us to see the familiar with new eyes. Often, we are tempted to seek novelty, believing that new experiences or possessions will bring us satisfaction. However, this endless pursuit can lead to discontentment, as the thrill of novelty diminishes over time. Instead, we are called to find joy and gratitude in the rhythm of life, in the repetition of daily routines, and in the constancy of God's creation. By appreciating the rhythm of life and the constancy of God's creation, we can find joy and gratitude in the present moment. [02:26]

"Thus says the Lord: 'Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.' But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" (Jeremiah 6:16, ESV)

Reflection: What is one routine or aspect of your daily life that you often overlook? How can you approach it with a sense of wonder and gratitude today?

Day 2: Resist the Temptation of Novelty

The desire for constant novelty can lead to discontentment and distract us from the core of our faith. C.S. Lewis, in "The Screwtape Letters," warns against the temptation to add something extra to our faith, to seek "Christianity and" something else. This desire for novelty can distract us from the core of our faith and lead us away from the life God intends for us. By focusing on the present and the familiar, we can cultivate a heart of gratitude and find true satisfaction. [03:09]

"Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them." (Hebrews 13:9, ESV)

Reflection: Identify an area in your life where you are seeking novelty. How can you refocus on the core of your faith and find satisfaction in what you already have?

Day 3: Balance of Change and Permanence

God has designed life with a balance of change and permanence, which we experience as rhythm. This rhythm is evident in the changing seasons, the cycle of the church year, and the daily routines that shape our lives. By embracing this rhythm, we can cultivate a heart of gratitude and find contentment in the present moment. Recognizing this balance allows us to appreciate the constancy and change in our lives as gifts from God. [04:18]

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: How can you embrace the rhythm of change and permanence in your life today? What is one way you can express gratitude for both?

Day 4: See with New Eyes

By viewing our lives with a sense of wonder and gratitude, we can experience the same old things as new and fresh, filled with God's presence and love. This perspective allows us to find true joy and satisfaction. The challenge is to see our lives with new eyes, to appreciate the familiar with a sense of wonder and gratitude. This perspective allows us to experience the same old things as new and fresh, filled with God's presence and love. [07:49]

"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." (Psalm 119:18, ESV)

Reflection: What is one familiar aspect of your life that you can choose to see with new eyes today? How can this shift in perspective bring you closer to God?

Day 5: Appreciate the Present Moment

The challenge is to appreciate the present moment and the familiar with a sense of wonder and gratitude. By doing so, we can find true satisfaction and joy in the richness of the life God has given us. Embracing the present moment allows us to experience the fullness of life and the depth of God's love. By focusing on the present, we can cultivate a heart of gratitude and find true satisfaction. [10:53]

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:34, ESV)

Reflection: How can you intentionally appreciate the present moment today? What is one way you can express gratitude for the life God has given you right now?

Sermon Summary

Finding contentment in the present moment is a profound spiritual practice. Today, I invite you to embrace the familiar, the "same old thing," and discover the divine mystery within it. We often seek novelty, believing that new experiences or possessions will bring us satisfaction. However, this endless pursuit can lead to discontentment, as the thrill of novelty diminishes over time. Instead, we are called to find joy and gratitude in the rhythm of life, in the repetition of daily routines, and in the constancy of God's creation.

C.S. Lewis, in "The Screwtape Letters," warns against the temptation to add something extra to our faith, to seek "Christianity and" something else. This desire for novelty can distract us from the core of our faith and lead us away from the life God intends for us. The enemy uses this desire to create a "horror of the same old thing," leading to dissatisfaction in various aspects of life, including relationships and spirituality.

God, in His wisdom, has designed life with a balance of change and permanence, which we experience as rhythm. This rhythm is evident in the changing seasons, the cycle of the church year, and the daily routines that shape our lives. By embracing this rhythm, we can cultivate a heart of gratitude and find contentment in the present moment.

The challenge is to see our lives with new eyes, to appreciate the familiar with a sense of wonder and gratitude. This perspective allows us to experience the same old things as new and fresh, filled with God's presence and love. By doing so, we can find true satisfaction and joy, not in the pursuit of novelty, but in the richness of the life God has given us.

Key Takeaways

1. Embrace the familiar: Finding contentment in the "same old thing" requires us to see the familiar with new eyes. By appreciating the rhythm of life and the constancy of God's creation, we can find joy and gratitude in the present moment. [02:26]
2. Resist the temptation of novelty: The desire for constant novelty can lead to discontentment and distract us from the core of our faith. By focusing on the present and the familiar, we can cultivate a heart of gratitude and find true satisfaction. [03:09]
3. Balance of change and permanence: God has designed life with a balance of change and permanence, which we experience as rhythm. This rhythm is evident in the changing seasons and daily routines, allowing us to find contentment in the present. [04:18]
4. See with new eyes: By viewing our lives with a sense of wonder and gratitude, we can experience the same old things as new and fresh, filled with God's presence and love. This perspective allows us to find true joy and satisfaction. [07:49]
5. Appreciate the present moment: The challenge is to appreciate the present moment and the familiar with a sense of wonder and gratitude. By doing so, we can find true satisfaction and joy in the richness of the life God has given us. [10:53]
** [10:53]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:25] - Finding Contentment in the Familiar
[00:54] - Apology and Humor
[01:30] - C.S. Lewis and Mere Christianity
[02:26] - Embracing the Same Old Thing
[03:09] - The Temptation of Novelty
[04:18] - God's Gift of Rhythm
[05:05] - Seasons and Spiritual Year
[06:05] - The Demand for Novelty
[07:20] - Seeing Life with New Eyes
[08:03] - The Cost of Novelty
[09:14] - Returning to the Vineyard
[09:45] - Cherishing the Present
[10:36] - Embracing the Same Old
[11:08] - Conclusion and Invitation

Sermon Clips

"Finding contentment in this day, not by looking at something that's going to be new, some demand for a new thrill, but in what is already familiar to you—waking and sleeping, the mystery of working and playing and talking and listening, morning and evening. Right now, the morning is really fresh and just looking at living things opening up again to God." [00:19:12]

"C.S. Lewis and here's what he writes: my dear Wormwood, the real trouble about the set your patience living when is that it is merely Christian. They all have individual interests of course, but the bond remains mere Christianity. What we want if people become Christians at all is to keep them in the state of mind I call Christianity and." [00:30:28]

"Embrace the same old thing, find God and mystery in the same old thing because that is this day, but this day has never been before, it will never be again. It is unique, every moment is that way, but we are tempted to lose it in our horror of the same old thing." [00:44:19]

"God did not have to make any of this. He did not have to give us this taste, this love of change and love of stability simultaneously, but he does. He is contrived to gratify both tastes together in the very world he has made by that union of change and permanence, which we call rhythm." [00:45:59]

"He gives them the seasons, each season different yet every year the same, so that spring is always felt as a novelty, yet always as the recurrence of an immemorial theme. He gives them in his church a spiritual year; they change from a fast to a feast, from Lent to Easter, Advent into Christmas." [00:49:36]

"By inflaming the horror of the same old thing, we have recently made the arts, for example, less danger to us than perhaps they've ever been. Lowbrow and highbrow artists alike being now daily drawn into fresh and still fresh excesses of lasciviousness, unreason, cruelty, and pride." [00:58:48]

"How quickly we discard this moment and neglect to see the treasure and beauty in it. I think of visiting my old friend Max when he was about 90 years old and he said every night Esther and I tell each other I love you because we never know if we will be here in the morning to be able to say it." [01:09:36]

"How wonderful would be to have one more day like that one, but I don't have that day, I have this day, and then tomorrow if God grants I will have tomorrow, the same old thing and yet new, always new, ever new in the hands of the God who creates and the God who sustains." [01:15:27]

"Today embrace the same old thing, the same old food, the same old bed, the same old partner, the same old people, the same old job. Look at the same old thing with brand new eyes, with eyes of love. Ask how much can I appreciate it, how much value can I bring to it, can I bring to them." [01:23:43]

"The humans live in time and experience reality successively, one second and then another. This amazing mystery of right now, to experience much of it therefore they must experience many different things. In other words, they must experience change, and since they need change, the enemy God being a hedonist at heart." [00:35:15]

"By viewing our lives with a sense of wonder and gratitude, we can experience the same old things as new and fresh, filled with God's presence and love. This perspective allows us to find true joy and satisfaction, not in the pursuit of novelty, but in the richness of the life God has given us." [00:47:12]

"The challenge is to appreciate the present moment and the familiar with a sense of wonder and gratitude. By doing so, we can find true satisfaction and joy in the richness of the life God has given us. Embrace the same old thing and I'll see you tomorrow." [01:25:10]

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