As I was considering what to write about today I once again was drawn to the “Verse of the Day” found on the front page of our website, a pretty neat feature sponsored by Christ Notes. Today it is Matthew 16:26 which says, “For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?” In other translations instead of “life” it uses the word “soul.” The idea however is the same. As Christians we are called not to amass treasures on earth, where the Bible points out moth and rust consume, but we are instead called to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven….for where our treasure is so will our hearts be also!
If we look around however, we can see that many people seem to head in the other direction. TV is filled with tons of ways you can get rich. We glamorize (and sometimes idolize) wealth and celebrity. And there’s a lot of anxiety, especially these days, about OUR economy, and the effects it will have upon US.
But we live in a world that needs to focus less on us, and more upon the Lord. Our economy may have it’s ups and downs, but we should always remember that God’s economy always grows!
You know every person any of us has ever known has come into the world naked and with nothing, and here’s a big secret….the “with nothing” is how they all leave it too (and that includes us). It doesn’t matter how important we are, or how much we have made or have…..in the end we can not take anything with us. You see, it profits us nothing to gain even all we could imagine. The only thing that really matters in the end is our belief in Jesus Christ, for it is through that belief that we indeed gain everything we need…..through Him we gain eternal life!
This life we live really is important and it has a lot of meaning! But we do not find that meaning in things, we find it in our relationship with the very One who created all that we see!
Nite my friends and God bless…..I hope today and all your days are full of the kind of profit that will pay off for eternity!
Fr. Tom+