LIFE IS NOT THINGS
Eight men gathered at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Atlantic City in 1923. They controlled more wealth and possessed more wealth, than was in the U.S. Treasury at the time. But in just a matter of a few years three had committed suicide, two were in prison, one had been murdered and two had gone insane. How true that “we brought nothing into this world, and we shall take nothing out” (1 Timothy 6:6-10). Solomon said long ago, after giving his life to building something big, to gold, to silver, to “becoming a millionaire before age thirty,” that it all was vanity and striving after the wind (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11). He is also the one who said that a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches (Proverbs 22:1). There are so many things nobler, higher, and sweeter than gold: Wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it (Proverbs 8:10). How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! Yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver (Proverbs 16:16). Things perish with the using (Colossians 2:22). Riches are not forever (Proverbs 27:24).
And listen to this solemn warning by the writer of Hebrews: Be ye free from the love of money and content with such things as you have; for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. Halford Luccock tells of a family called Danks who were devoted to one another and had a happy home. Mr. Danks was a song writer, which was a very precarious position, and they were poor. But their poverty seemed to draw them closer to each other. Danks was so impressed with this family affection that he wrote a song that everybody now knows: “Silver Threads Among the Gold.” The song brought him fame and fortune—but it also brought discord and unhappiness. The home was broken up, and in time, Mr. and Mrs. Danks were separated. Some years later, he was found dead, kneeling beside his bed in a cheap boarding house in Philadelphia. On the bed beside him lay an old copy of “Silver Threads” with these words written across it: “It is hard to grow old alone” (The Halford Luccock Treasury, p. 417).
Never have a people had more and more, but enjoyed it less and less. The standard of living has gone higher and higher while the standard of life has gone lower and lower. We have the finest homes, but the least home life. We have conveniences that save us many hours, but no time to study the Word of God. In a land of abundance, we have never learned how to abound. We have proved without a doubt that to be better off is not to be better. This generation believes that it can drink its way to happiness, spend its way to wealth, fight its way to peace, and enjoy its way to heaven. We are not to love the world, nor the things in the world, because the world passes away, and the lust thereof. But he that does the will of God abides forever! (1 John 2:15-17).
Word Affirmation: “ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." - Revelation 21:4 (Don't just say it, mean it!)
“ Things perish with the using. "
MIND THIS