Lamentations 4:2, 5, 9 “How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands! … Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those brought up in royal purple now lie on ash heaps …Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.”
Israel was about to undergo enemy occupation. All the rich and super-rich were about to become poor.
Principle:Earthly riches are temporary so invest in heavenly assets, which are eternal.
There is so much said in the Bible about the brevity, dangers, and dissatisfaction of financial riches. It is amusing to read the following e-mail with a different slant on riches:
In 1923 Charles Schwab was the president of the largest steel company. He died a pauper. Edward Hopson was the president of the largest gas company. He went insane. The president of the New York Stock Exchange was Richard Whitney, who was released from prison in 1923 to die at home. Arthur Cooger, the greatest wheat speculator, died abroad, penniless. The president of the Bank of International Settlement shot himself. The Great Bear of Wall Street, Cosabee Livermore, also committed suicide.
In the same year, 1923, the PGA Champion winner and winner of the U.S. Open was Gene Sarazen. He played golf until he was 92, died in 1999 at the age of 95. He was financially secure at the time of this death.
The silly moral: Forget work. Play golf. You will live longer and be better off in the end.
The true moral: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus had it right.
Discussion:
1. Take a look around yourself. Where are you storing up your treasures?
2. What treasures are you storing? Will they last?
3. Turn your energies toward eternal treasures and your heart will follow.
