A Fish in Hand

Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.” Heb. 13:5

A small fish caught in a net said to the fisherman, “I am too little to be a good meal. Even if you boil me or roast me – I won’t be enough to truly satisfy your hunger for long. Let me go and keep growing. I promise to return to you two years from now. You will find me in this same spot, large and seven times as fat. If you wait till then to eat me, it will be like a great feast in your house, and then your hunger will be truly satiated.”

But the canny fisherman replied, “Better is a little fish which I now have within my grasp than a great whale which my neighbors may catch and eat before I can get to it later.”

This proverb is known throughout the world in several forms. “Better is a handful of satisfaction in your own palms than heaping handfuls of hope in the hands of another.” “Better is a bird enclosed in a cage than two hopping on a hedge.” Or, here in the United States the aphorism was formulated by Benjamin Franklin as, “Better a bird in the hand than two in the bush.”

As popular as this proverb is, you’d think that it would be easy to live by. Yet many Christians still struggle with the concept of contentment. Contentment is not dependent on wealth, nor does it have to be stifled by poverty. Seek neither poverty nor riches. Wealth by itself is neutral – neither good nor bad. The key is to thank God for what we have and to use our time and resources to please Him. Satan’s goal is to get us to believe the illusion that knowing more or having more will make us content. Actually, it just shows we’ll never be satisfied. A person who is never satisfied is a person who will fail to fully trust God. Knowing that our real home is with God in eternity should help us be content with what we have now. Making wise personal investments here will bring us great wealth in heaven. Godliness with contentment is great gain.

So learn contentment, for love of “more” brings misery. Keep free from love of “more” and you will be content. This kind of contentment promotes peace. After all, life does not consist of what one possesses. Do not lay up earthly treasures, but heavenly treasures. Seek first God’s kingdom. Though there are many ways to have transient peace, lasting genuine peace is found only in a trusting relationship with the Lord.