Thesaurus states that riches
are ‘An abundance of material possessions and resources’ which covers
many aspects of riches, but not all!
Recently my wife and I with two friends did a fifteen-day tour
of the cities of the seven churches named by John in Revelation ch.s 2 and 3.
This took the first four days, and then we had a few days in Kusadasi where we
visited Miletus. From Kusadasi we went to the Greek island of Samos from where
the Apostle Paul sailed to Miletus to meet with the Ephesian elders. One night
on that island and then a ferry down to Patmos, where John wrote the Book of
the Revelation. This is a lovely island; we spent three nights there. Our last
port of call was Kos Town on the island of Kos. It was there that we saw Roma
Abramovich’s yacht ‘Eclipse’ in the harbour. It is the largest privately owned
yacht in the world at 533feet long. It has a helicopter on board, two swimming
pools, seventy staff, and if you want to rent it for a week it will cost you a
reported £1.25million. It also has a sea to air missile defence system and a
James Bond type submarine to vacate the yacht if under attack, apart from the
normal bodyguards that attend his person. This highlights the dangers that come
with being wealthy. Mr.Abramovich is a mega-rich man but according to Forbes
Magazine he only makes No. 69 of he world’s top 400 billionaires.
The 8th October
issue of the magazine has an interesting article about David Green who is a
born again billionaire (No. 79 on Forbes list of top 400). He is CEO of Hobby
Lobby an arts and crafts store-chain (520) in America. The company is solely
family owned and sponsors worldwide evangelical outreach. One venture he
sponsors is the YouVersion Bible app for mobile phones. It is equipped to offer
300 different versions of Scripture in 114 languages. To date there have been
50 million downloads throughout the world. Have you got one?
Conversely, former Italian
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been disgraced by being sentenced to four
years in prison for tax fraud. He is No. 169 on Forbes list at around $6
Billion. Whether he will spend one day in prison is another question, he has
bounced back more times than a tennis ball from Roger Federer’s racket! Some Billionaires have known the
embarrassment of losing large amounts of their wealth by shrinking stocks, but
others have recovered along the path of affluence by shrewd business dealings.
Proverbs
23:4 reads, “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt
thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make
themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”
The evangelist Luke tells us about four
men that were rich and are worthy of consideration. The first one was a farmer;
the second of the ruling class, the third a socialite and the fourth was a tax
collector.
The farmer had a good harvest and had
thoughts of expansion, he said in Luke 12:18, “This will I do: I will
pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits
and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for
many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”
He planned for a life of ease and prosperity but had not planned for an early
exit. God said to him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required
of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he
that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” The
farmer had a good eye for business but was blind concerning eternity; he had no
plans for the future. Have you?
The
young man from the ruling class did think about eternity, Luke said, in Luke 18:18,
And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to
inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none
is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit
adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy
father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now
when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing:
sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful:
for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he
said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!”
This young man had plenty of material things but did not have eternal life and
he wanted it, the problem was he loved his riches more than his soul.
The
rich man in Luke 16 died and went to Hell, the beggar Lazarus died too and went
to Heaven. Anyone, rich or poor that dies without Christ as their Saviour, dies
without hope. Jesus said, “ I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall
die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.” Jesus died and rose again and went to Heaven,
anyone that believes in Him will also go to Heaven, but unbelievers will go to
Hell.
The
taxman in Luke 19:2 “Was a man
named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich”
Whether it was curiosity or concern we do not know but we do know that
Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He climbed a tree to see the Saviour and when
Jesus was at the tree He summoned him to come down. Riches may elevate one in
society, being prepared to be humbled by the Lord, to be brought down to earth,
meant salvation came to Zacchaeus. Christ came to his home. His outlook changed
from that point, he said that half of his wealth he would give to the poor and
if he had robbed anyone that he would repay fourfold. A change of heart and a
change of destination, he was Heaven born and Heaven bound. He was rich in faith. Amen and God bless.
Written
for Stephen Baker by Stan Burdit
No comments
Post a Comment