As we read in class, Ecclesiastes chapter 2 makes it obvious that to seek after wealth prosperity is vanity. However, many professing Christians keep seeking after it and some even teach others to do it. This makes me the question “why?” As those who follow Jesus, we should know that we ought not to accumulate treasures on this earth, but rather to have our treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). We should also know that no one cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24). However, there are many professing Christians who still chose to do it.
I don’t mean to be hard, but what comes to my mind is: what is the point to be called a Christian if we are not following Christ? After all, the meaning of being a Christian is that one follows Christ. I know it is easy to think that this is not a big deal or to look for other verses in the Bible and take them out of their context to justify doing what we want to. But, if we do that we may live our entire lives in the assumption that we are Christians and in the end find out we were wrong. Jesus said, “…what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). We also know that He asked some, who were rich, to give up all their possessions to follow Him and because they would not do it they did not become Christians. That being said, I wonder… how many today have denied Christ to surrender their possessions and their own desires but still calls themselves Christians?
This causes me to search my own self and to pray for God to search me as well, as we read on Psalm 139:23-24, because we all could be doing this. The question I think each one of us should ask is “are we?”. I truly pray that all of us who claim to be Christians would consider this. For those who still chose to go by what everyone else thinks about what is right or wrong, we should consider that we are living in a post-modern time where truth is relative to what best suits the individual. Most of our culture principles are based on the philosophy of humanism. The evangelist Paris Redhead said in his sermon Ten Shekels and a Shirt*, “Humanism says all things exist for the happiness of man”, Christianity says “all things exist for the glory of God.” So, in order to exam ourselves, I ask “Which one do we believe in?”
* This is a really good sermon by the way, if anyone would like to listen to it go to http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=10180222445.
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