A Greek stoic philosopher by the name Epictetus left behind a treasure of witty sayings.
One of them on wealth is this: “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in
having few wants.” That means that people with insatiable wants are poor even if they
have the whole material world at their beck and call. Uncontrolled want could spell
disaster. I have king Ahab on my mind here. Being a king, he literally had the whole
realm of Israel. However, he got carried away with the inheritance of one of his subjects
– Naboth. Aided by his wife, he had a hostile takeover of the vineyard spilling Naboth’s
blood in the process. That marked the beginning of the end for him. Haman also comes
to mind. He was supreme among the king’s servants, but all that did not satisfy him
unless he could get rid of Mordecai. He pursued that one “want” to his utmost fall.

“We will live a lot happier and more peacefully if we learn what contentment means.”

We will live a lot happier and more peacefully if we learn what contentment means. On
this too, Epictetus said, “Contentment comes not so much from great wealth as from
few wants”. When we factor contentment into the equation, many people will discover
that they are much wealthier than they realise. All these bring us back to the lesson that
Jesus taught a young man – that life does not consist of abundant material possessions.
If we have our basic essentials met and are at peace with God, we are truly wealthy.