He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and took many wives for them. – 2 Chronicles 11:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 11, 2013): 2 Chronicles 11

The Swiss writer, Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, once wrote that “man never has what he wants, because what he wants is everything.” The quote is sometimes used to indicate the greed of the human race. As a group of people we always seem to be stretching out our hand and grasping for more. For most of us, the world is not enough. And so we are terminally unhappy. Most of the world’s religions would tell us that our greed has taken away any of the joy that we want to experience in life. That we should learn to just be content with what we have.

But there is another side of the coin. To be content with what we have often means that we will not struggle against the injustices of life. If we are content with cancer, we will not struggle to find a cure. If we are content with what Bono would call the “stupid poverty” in the developing world, then we will do nothing to fix the problem. During the Second World War, the Christian Church in Germany was content with Hitler’s spoken message that he wished to return the nation to its Christian moral roots, and therefore they were more than willing to overlook the obvious problems with the regime. In each of these settings, contentment was really the enemy. It is a condition that rulers have long recognized. Sometimes the best way to pacify problems is to allow them the simple ability to be content.

Rehoboam seemed to understand this principle. He had decided that his son Abijah would succeed him. Now, there was a problem. It does not appear that Abijah was the oldest son of Rehoboam (the traditional successor in a hereditary system.) But when the oldest person, the traditional inheritor of the position, is overlooked, not only is the oldest son upset, but every son is now angry because every son is wondering “why not me.”

Rehoboam chooses Abijah as his successor, and then he takes his sons and makes them governors over all of the areas of his kingdom. Rehoboam’s action placed people that he could trust (his sons) into the various areas of the kingdom. But it also separated the sons and kept them out of conflict with each other. And Rehoboam richly supplied each one of his sons. And they became content with where they were in life. Dad had richly given to them so that they were not looking to change things.

When we are content we don’t want things to change – even when things should be changed. If we are content, then we stop growing. And that is a problem. And it is not what the Bible teaches. We are not to be content with the way things are, but we are supposed to be a transformational source in the world. But the power structure of this world wants everything to stay the same – so, like Rehoboam, they want to give us things so that we will be content.

Our world needs to change, but change will never happen with people who are content.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 12