How many of you are living in the lap of luxury, as it is called, a place where not only are all of your needs met on a daily basis, and that without question, but many of your wants are at your disposal whenever you desire them. I would ask a question here of you then, did your mind just go to the materialistic, the things that the world can provide, or the things of Christ.
It’s alright, most of those who are reading this letter went to the same place, the items from the world, those things that are accessible to those who have enough financial wherewithal to purchase their hearts desires. We see them on the television screen, we hear of them in social media venues, they are visible to our eyes on nearly a daily basis, the individuals who seem to have it all. They appear to have no worries, no cares, if they want something, they simply purchase it, their daily needs have been forgotten long ago, they are no more than a passing thought, for they are expected, and have been for a very long time.
For some of these individuals, the simple things in life are for the simple minded, for those who will not apply themselves, those who seem to have no ambition, no drive, no desire to better themselves. Those who want little are non-existent in their minds, for who would not strive for all that they can get in this world, all is here for the taking, anything you want, you can get, hard work and perseverance is not the only way to achieve the accumulation of financial wealth and all that comes with it though. Those who stand in the way of some of these people will be shown by them that it is not a good place to stand, for what they want, if they cannot purchase it, they will take, the lap of luxury for some comes at a price for others, it always has, it always will.
The wealth and prosperity of the world brings along with it the rewards of affluence and indulgence, but there is a far greater price as all the believers in Christ know, the swagger and comforts that this world can afford all who will but seek it will be to no avail to those who have deceived themselves in this manner at their last day. For this, we should feel great sorrow for them, for how can one compare eternity to the few fleeting moments of this quickly passing time here on earth. The heart that rejoices today, will suffer an eternal loss that we cannot begin to comprehend tomorrow, an agonizing despair that will never end, the truth of their pitiful, self-centered lives will be fully known to them, and they will find no comfort forever more.
Tell me my friends, how does this change your opinion, your thoughts about those who have now but will not have forever more, while you are walking on streets of gold in the New Jerusalem ten-thousand years from now, they will still be screaming, when we come before the Lord to give Him the honor and glory that only He deserves and is worthy of, those who sought honor and glory here for themselves will know only pain and eternal hopelessness. We will feast forever, and at our leisure, theirs will be a continual fasting, never to taste again any of the pleasures that they have spent their lives seeking after. Does this knowledge bring tears to your eyes, or did you just experience a twinge of a thought that said, “Serves them right.”
Oh, that we could feel the same heartache and sadness for these who have no more needs of the world that we feel for those who live in poverty and want, that we could see them as much of a neighbor to us as the destitute who lie on the street corners each day, asking for help from all who pass by. The richest most powerful people on this planet will face the same fate as those who are always in need, those who have all will lose all, and those who have nothing will gain nothing without the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives. We must see all that we meet as who they are, people in need of the Savior, as individuals that are swimming in a world that will drown all who enter into it, this is the reason that we have been called out of this world. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1st john 2:15)
It can be very difficult to not look at these who have, and have much, without animosity, without lust and envy, for have we not all been told since our youths that this is the way of man, are we not directed from a very young age into the knowledge that the things of the world are to be sought after, worked diligently for, to seek the pleasures of all that is offered to us with every fiber of our being. Work hard, each and every day, save your money for the future, spend now what you can so that the work that never seems to end can be mitigated, if only for the weekend, and when life comes to a close, there will be plenty, and with plenty comes a lack of fear, with only the need for more unfulfilled aspirations. We desire the things of the world that we should not desire, and we hold a grudge, as it were, against those who have accumulated those things that we are told not to seek after. We are a strange lot indeed, we Christians.
Here is the verse that I am fairly sure most of you have been waiting for, the one we like to quote when these thoughts of want, or those thoughts are against those who have the things that we want come into our minds. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (Rom. 12:20) Not so easy when you see that very expensive automobile going down the road, and you have to find a part for your twenty-year old car, is it. When we are bombarded by the world on a constant level nearly everyday telling us that if we had this, we could be like them. The division between the rich and the poor, the have and the have not’s, is growing exponentially, and with it is coming an animosity that has rarely been seen before in history.
If we could only live a fulltime, purpose-driven life for the Lord, we would see only the division of those who will inherit the kingdom of the Lord, and those who will not, our hearts would grieve for those who do not know the eternal, but serve only the transitory. Behind the walls of the most magnificent mansions on this planet my friends, are cobwebs, on the most luxurious jets and yachts, there is rot. You know in your hearts that what we have we will leave behind, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” (1st Tim. 6:7) so why do we envy, why do we covet, why do we lust for the things that we will not own forever, why do we spend so much time seeking the things of the world that will be left behind in this world. Is the comfort, the lack of need, the luxury of the world the cost of the immortal soul of man, are we seeking that which we should not seek. Are we striving in the world for those things to leave them for those we love, so they do not have to strive, what are we teaching ourselves, those we love, and all that we meet if we are striving to live the same type of life that the lost are living.
Let those who have, have what they believe they own, let those who are seeking the things of the world have the world, our world is not here, we hold no citizenship here, why would we strive for those things that are not of our home. Can you feel the love that the Lord has for us, can you know peace in suffering in not only never owning what the world offers, but never having a desire for these things. Can you love your neighbor as yourself when your neighbor is a multi-millionaire, or only when he is lying on the curb, placing his hand up for some change. Neither of them will know the true riches that await them unless you speak to them, unless you are able to look at them and tell them that they are lost, unless we love them, no matter what position in this life that the Lord has allowed them to be in.
“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Col. 3:2)
