November 27, 2007
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Isaiah 10:3
A few days ago I wrote about the GPS we used in New Mexico and how impressed I was by its usefulness-especially the plotter feature. As helpful as I thought it was I would never trust my life to it. Years ago I was reading an article about the popularity and usefulness of GPS units. The author spent an entire article convincing his readers to purchase a GPS but all I remember were his last haunting words that went something like this, “But always carry a compass and know where you are because you should never place your life in the hands of an electronic device.”
Amen.
My friend Justin made this mistake-once. He arrowed a large bull elk and was carrying the hind quarter out of the hills during a summer snow storm. The snow was coming down heavily and he was blanketed by the darkness. He relied completely on his GPS but after an hour of walking he crossed his own tracks in the snow! The heavy snow and thick cloud cover confused his GPS and it sent him walking in circles!
Moral: Never entrust your life to an electronic device, which includes smart phones, computers, ipods, and anything else that could fail in a grid down scenario. I would add a caveat that we should only entrust our lives into the hands of the Creator of the universe.
Isaiah 10:3 asks, “And who will you leave your wealth (NASB).” In other words, a man can run to wealth, pursue affluence, or seek the get rich lifestyle, but pursuing these things before pursuing Christ will malfunction in the end sending you in circles. He who dies with the most toys, largest home and most diverse portfolio still dies.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
What really matters is not how much wealth a man accumulates but what good he deos to glorify God with it according to 1 Timothy 6:17-19 that says, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
I am fortunate enough to have some friends who happen to be wealthy by American standards (most of us are wealthy by global standards), and even more fortunate that each of these men are the first to tell me that money and happiness are not synonymous.
Make a conscious decision to follow to make Christ as your ultimate pursuit in life. Run to Him in your time of need and He will never disappoint you.
I promise.
