Three women sat on a chair with shopping bags as their feet

 

Word For You is no longer available in print or digital format although the archive of previous readings will remain available on this page for some time yet. If you'd like to continue with Word For You, you can listen to each day's devotional on the UCB Player app.

Satisfied

02 February 2019
‘Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.’

Ever bought something, enjoyed it for a while, and then wanted something better? We live in a world that’s never really satisfied. Companies release new and improved products, and we want those, even if the ones we’ve already got work fine. We want to keep up with other people and have the best things. Some people think that they’ll be happy when they have the latest phone, the latest car, and so on, but possessions don’t actually bring us lasting happiness. Neither does money. Money can help us live a good life, but having too much of it can cause problems, just like having too little of it can. In Proverbs, we find this prayer: ‘O God, I beg two favours from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name”’ (vv.7-9 NLT). It’s interesting that the writer says ‘enough to satisfy my needs’ – that’s not enough to satisfy his wants, desires, or dreams. It’s just his needs. If we’re honest for a moment, how much stuff have we bought that we didn’t really need? How many of us want more and more, even though we can live off of what we already have? We’ll never truly be satisfied if we’re chasing material things. True satisfaction comes from God. The Bible says that it’s God who ‘satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things’ (Psalm 107:9 NIV). He knows our needs, and will meet them (have a read of Matthew 6:25-34). He can provide ‘enough to satisfy’ our needs.

 

What Now?

Buy a bar of chocolate. Eat just one piece of it. Take time to appreciate that one piece and be satisfied with what you had. Then keep the rest of the bar for another day.

Sign up to get your copy delivered

The UCB Word For You

Read More

30th Jan 2023
29th Jan 2023
28th Jan 2023
27th Jan 2023
26th Jan 2023
25th Jan 2023
24th Jan 2023
23rd Jan 2023
22nd Jan 2023
21st Jan 2023
20th Jan 2023
16th Jan 2023
15th Jan 2023
14th Jan 2023
06th Jan 2023

 

 

Articles

Meet: Guvna B
Meet: Housefires
‘We are here for you.’ A statement from UCB’s CEO, David L’Herroux.