YOU CAN’T BUY THE BEST THING LIFE OFFERS

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death. 10:2

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. 11:4

Proverbs 10:2, 11:4

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

NOTE: From Proverbs, Chapter 10 through Chapter 22:16, Solomon writes a series of individual proverbs for us to consider. I will try and group similar proverbs in my devotions as I cover what Solomon wrote over these chapters.

What do you consider treasure?

The words of Jesus as He taught during His Sermon on the Mount should resonate in our hearts and minds as we ponder that question. Here’s what He had to say:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.”

This is completely contrary to what the world proposes one should do. The world would want us to chase after all it has to give and there is no shortage of tempting offers we find there. We chase after money because it brings us purchasing power and purchasing power allows us to drink up the material offerings available. The more we get, the more we want so much so that we never find ourselves satisfied in our pursuit of material gain and the status it brings us. It’s like a drug we can’t get enough of.

But there’s a problem with the pursuit of wealth and the treasures of the earth. Jesus tells us that they are not everlasting and prone to destruction, wasting away, or theft. I think about the things people chase after today and we see this true. Cars do not last but accumulate miles until they begin to break down and eventually stop working at all. Homes age as well and become less and less attractive in light of the newer homes being built, homes that call out for new owners and beckon for people to leave where they are and move in. Electronic gadgetry is only as good as the in-thing. Newer computers, newer televisions, newer cell phones, and newer video gaming systems are coming out all the time and it seems that no one can be satisfied with what they have. The urge to upgrade is ever present and a majority of the people are seduced into it.

Yes, we are so bent in the treasures of the world that we forget one important thing. None of them will be able to go with us when we die. Not one of them can grant us the opportunity to live forever.

The wise king Solomon had this to say in his writings in the Book of Ecclesiastes:

Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. Ecclesiastes 5:15

You may have heard the old worldly saying, “You can’t take it with you.” Solomon said it first.

He also had this to say in our verses from Proverbs:

Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death.

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

This takes the matter of wealth and worldly treasures to a new level. For nothing we can buy here on earth can deliver us from death. None of it has lasting value and it loses all worth when our last breath is gone. The treasures on earth are left behind to others who will do what they choose with them. You will have no say in the matters of your wealth or possessions anymore. That’s a fact and a fact that could be pretty depressing if that was all there was to life.

Thank goodness we have Jesus who offers us the best thing in life – and it can’t be purchased.

For through our belief and trust in Jesus, we receive a part of an inheritance that is not of earth but only of heaven above now and forever. We find our way to eternal life with the God who created us and His Son who He surrendered to save us. He loved us that much, that He would sacrifice His greatest treasure, His only Son, so we might have a chance to live forever.

Yes, treasures of this earth will fade, spoil, and waste away but the treasure of heaven we find in salvation endures forever. But we gain something more than eternal life when we turn to Jesus.

We gain righteousness, another treasure of heaven. For as we await that day when God calls us home to be with Him, to return to the One who made us in the first place, we have much to do in this temporary, worldly life. For the Lord has a will and way for each of us and expects us to pursue it. We do that by having a daily, committed relationship with Him, a relationship where we seek His guidance and direction to live right, to embody righteousness in all we do.

It’s that very righteousness that helps us grow in Spirit and in truth through Christ and the Holy Spirit He instructs us through, the One who proclaimed and always proves that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Follow Him and His ways and you will always be living in righteousness, in a way that is pleasing to God the Father.

Friends, my prayer for you today is that you are investing more of your time and energy on Jesus than you are of the world and all its trappings. For through Christ, and through Christ alone, we gain the best that this life can offer – and it doesn’t cost us a cent.

Amen. 

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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