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“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).

Growing up throughout my entire childhood I recall the rotary dial phone on our kitchen wall, the only phone in our home. A few phone options were available at that time so if you were well-to-do you might have paid extra each month for tone dialing or they had a "princess phone" for the bedroom advertised with the slogan, "It's little...It's lovely...It lights". My parents saw no need for an extension phone! Brooksyne recalls that the wall phone costs extra so her parents had only the rotary desk phone. Colored phones were an additional cost so both of our families had only black phones.

Extravagances like a colored phone, were deemed unnecessary by our parents who grew up during the Great Depression. At the time it never occurred to me to be dissatisfied with that phone or to want something new. It worked fine and we were blessed to have a private line as long as I can remember, unlike the party line Brooksyne had growing up which they initially shared with ten neighbors! (See her note below.)

The first mobile phone was developed in 1985 (photo on right) about the same time we remember seeing the first cordless phones. What a novelty then to see people sitting out on their porch or walking in their yard talking on the phone! Now we don't think anything of it.

Presently, of course, there is an outstanding variety in phone types, and new phones are being offered with more and more features. Although many cell phone plans come with a "free" phone many step up to a more advanced style and then purchase new phones through the life of the plan. A three year old phone can seem old now days!

We live in a time when people are obsessed with the new. Now I’m sure to some degree this has always been the case but in my observation this obsession has increased dramatically in my lifetime. The cycle time between what is new and old is much, much shorter, and in some cases a matter of months will make the "new" purchase an outdated item.

Now to be clear and not come off as "holier than thou" I like new stuff and in many ways "new" can be a blessing. Today I have a new garden tractor coming that replaces one I had bought used from my neighbor nine years ago. I am just not able to service something like I used to.

New often works better and does more (although so much that is new probably won’t last as long since we live in such a disposable society).

But there is also a tyrannical aspect to the new. New is constantly changing, similar to "state of the art". An engineer once told me that many electronic type items are no longer "state of the art" as soon as they become available for sale, since the next generation is already waiting to be placed on market. What’s new today will be old very quickly and if people base their contentment on the new they will be constantly frustrated and many are.

Today’s tiny verse is power-packed and so needed. Many view the experience of "gain" in life as having newer stuff and more of it. But that is certainly not what the apostle Paul is writing about. Consider the power of the phrase, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." It's a verse I quote often and refer to frequently in our messages.

“Godliness refers to the act of being pious and living a good, reverent life toward God and others because of what Christ has done in us.” (Richard Krejkir)

Godliness is a dying virtue in our time, though God will always have a remnant who walk in a manner that honors and pleases Him.

Among the many ways the world seeks to force us into its mold is the lie that the new can offer lasting satisfaction. Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want (which will always be changing), but the realization of how much you already have and finding satisfaction with that. It’s realizing that, “All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.”

From the beginning Satan has tormented the human race with this lie: "That which God has provided is never enough". At the very heart of Satan’s first lie and temptation to Adam and Eve was that the breathtaking beauty in the Garden was not enough; that human companionship was not enough; that God’s provision was not enough; that His authority was meant to be questioned.

Today we have an abundant and growing allure toward the newest and latest which we’ve been told will make us happy; whether it’s visiting a special location promoted as "heaven on earth", whether it’s the latest item guaranteed to surpass our expectations, or for others it’s that special someone that’s going to finally bring you fulfillment in life.

Today may the Lord help us to identify the tyranny of the new and consider how it impacts us; whether it is for the good (and certainly this can be the case), or whether it contributes to discontent or ingratitude for what we already have.

Tomorrow I plan to write about how the "tyranny of the new" is also impacting the church.

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber