We often think our success is measured by how much money we have in our savings account, the car we drive, the house we live in, and even the position we hold at work. However, at the end of the day it's not what we think! James 1:9-11 tells us:
“Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wildflower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.”
Of course, we can be thankful for the blessings in our lives and take pride in those, but we cannot make it the main thing. We have a God who provides what we need and beyond— I don’t know about you, but I am thankful for that! Just sending Jesus to pay our punishment is enough, but he continues to provide for us day in and day out. We need to remind ourselves of the things in this world that will pass away. We can’t take our job title with us when we are called home, there are no ATMs in heaven to access that savings account that we made an idol. It's so important we keep our eyes on the end goal and our purpose as believers—to see the Gospel go to the ends of the world. We can use the blessings God has given us to share his love with those all around us. To give you some insight on how this might work, I want to tell you about a guy that I have been becoming close friends with within the last month. He came to know Christ as his Lord and Savior, and just a few weeks ago and was recently baptized, he would be the first to tell you up until that day of salvation his biggest motivation was money. If you ask him today what his motivation in life is, he will tell you to share the Gospel with anyone he encounters! HE GETS IT!!! We all can lose track of our true motivation, my question to you is, what is motivating you right now? I encourage you to take time and remind yourself that the material things of this world will stay here forever, but the gift of salvation remains in us!
“Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wildflower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.”
Of course, we can be thankful for the blessings in our lives and take pride in those, but we cannot make it the main thing. We have a God who provides what we need and beyond— I don’t know about you, but I am thankful for that! Just sending Jesus to pay our punishment is enough, but he continues to provide for us day in and day out. We need to remind ourselves of the things in this world that will pass away. We can’t take our job title with us when we are called home, there are no ATMs in heaven to access that savings account that we made an idol. It's so important we keep our eyes on the end goal and our purpose as believers—to see the Gospel go to the ends of the world. We can use the blessings God has given us to share his love with those all around us. To give you some insight on how this might work, I want to tell you about a guy that I have been becoming close friends with within the last month. He came to know Christ as his Lord and Savior, and just a few weeks ago and was recently baptized, he would be the first to tell you up until that day of salvation his biggest motivation was money. If you ask him today what his motivation in life is, he will tell you to share the Gospel with anyone he encounters! HE GETS IT!!! We all can lose track of our true motivation, my question to you is, what is motivating you right now? I encourage you to take time and remind yourself that the material things of this world will stay here forever, but the gift of salvation remains in us!