“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
If there’s one thing the last six months have taught us, it’s that tomorrow is not promised. That’s why some Americans occasionally leave home for work, only to go back into the house, not to pick up forgotten keys, but to leave the “I love you” that the World Trade Center tragedy has inspired. It’s one of the few good things that have come from September 11th.
If only we could apply that line of thinking to other areas of our life. The truth is some of us have realized that the nice cars, big homes, many of the dreams that we have been chasing are just not all that important. Maybe we have come to understand, as the Apostle John came to understand, that serving God is much more important than honoring our own desires. “For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:16-17)
The World Trade Center tragedy has also helped us to realize that we have two citizenships, one in this world and one in heaven. Perhaps the greater reality is that while we’ve been storing up riches in this world, we have yet to see a Wells Fargo Truck follow any of the hearses we’re seen on television. We can’t take it with us!
James Dobson once told a modern-day parable that communicates the important spiritual truth that so many of us have begun to understand. He was playing the board game, Monopoly, with his family. As the game progressed, he grew richer with every move, ultimately owning the most desired of the game board properties, Boardwalk, Park Place, all the railroads and utilities. Money was no longer a concern. But when the game ended, Dobson realized that he had been left all alone to put all the pieces back in the box. All that wealth really didn’t mean a thing.
The Bible is filled with verses admonishing us about the very lesson James Dobson learned. Proverbs 23:5, for example, reminds us that we really can’t depend on wealth. “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” Jesus said that riches can literally choke you to death. “As they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8:14)
It’s not a sin to want nice things. But it is a sin when the want for those nice things becomes our god – when we are willing to subordinate what really matters for what doesn’t.
The Apostle Paul teaches that the real treasures in life are those that we will see when we get on the other side of eternity. Think about his words: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)
It was Lisa Beamer that gave me the idea for this column. She would gladly trade the fame that has come her way to have her husband, Todd, back in her arms, back in her life. Todd, as you may recall, was one of the heroes on American Airlines Flight 93, the plane that went down in rural Pennsylvania. She really put in it perspective for me when she told Larry King, “People sometimes look at me, I think, and wonder, is she in shock, is she…unrealistic about what the situation is…But, certainly, the faith that I have is like Todd’s, and it’s helping me understand the bigger picture here and that God’s justice will ultimately prevail and that we have more to look forward to than just what we see here around us on Earth.”
Think about your life, your priorities. Do you understand the bigger picture here?
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