Perspective

I was reading the Psalms tonight and felt like God spoke to me through Psalm 49. It is a powerful Psalm about wealth being fleeting and death coming to us all. It was a wake up call for me, reminding me that money and wealth are meaningless because you can't take it with you. We will all, regardless of our social standing or title, stand before the judgment seat of God and have to give an account of our lives. 

I confess that I have gotten so wrapped up in serving money instead of God and I need to repent of it. The line between serving money and serving God can be hard to distinguish sometimes. We all work to pay our bills, our mortgages or rent, and to feed ourselves. It is easy to get consumed by those things and forget that all of it is fleeting and the only thing that matters is our standing before God. 

I sometimes thought those preachers who asked people if they were to die tonight, do they know where they would go were being a bit too forceful or melodramatic but it is the truth. Forget about your house and all of your possessions, if you were to die tonight and stand before God what would you say? The Bible says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Are you trusting in the saving work of Jesus and His blood which washes away all sin?  

Psalm 49

Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, both low and high, rich and poor alike: My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb: with the harp I will expound my riddle:

Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me—those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them--the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—so that they should live on forever and not see decay.

For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.

This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. They are like sheep and are destined to die, death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.

Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them.

Though while they live they count themselves blessed—and people praise you when you prosper—

they will join those who have gone before them who will never again see the light of life. People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish