Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”
Our Bible verse for today: “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Focus on what really matters.”
As was noted in yesterday’s devotional message, possessiveness is a natural human tendency which leads people to become compulsively preoccupied with material things. It’s a condition which is especially prevalent in our society.
In Luke 12:13-21 Jesus told a parable about a rich fool who had many earthly possessions, but his preoccupation with those possessions distracted him to the point that he had little or no relationship with God. The story ends with the man dying suddenly, leaving his earthly possessions behind, and he then discovered that he had to face the very God he had not bothered to build a relationship with.
The problem of greed and possessiveness is such a problem that Jesus taught about it frequently. In Matthew 16:25 He taught that a person who clings to the things of this life will actually end up losing much more in eternity. In Matthew 6:25-33 He taught that our Father in Heaven is well aware of our needs and He is committed to meeting them for us, if we will just focus our thoughts and efforts on His kingdom and on His righteousness.
The famous missionary Jim Elliot once wrote, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
That statement is true – we know it is. Material things are temporary, but a healthy relationship with God is eternal. Yet we cling to our possessions anyway and greed consumes our souls. Why? Because our faith is weak and because we are focused on the things we can see rather than on those we cannot see. It’s like C.S. Lewis once wrote:
“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”
Since we are material beings, it’s easy to become preoccupied with material things. But we do so at our own peril. In His teaching Jesus emphasized over and over again how truly temporary material things are, and therefore how lacking in real value. Only the things of God have eternal value, so that’s where our focus needs to be.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 