Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 49:10-15
Ps 49:10-15
10 For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. 12 But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. 13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah 14 Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. 15 But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah
Luke 16:13-15
13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." 14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.
In the financial world we often hear the phrase “building wealth” which refers to using our money to make more money. Jesus taught that we are to be good stewards with what we have been given, so this can be a good thing. I saw an article the other day that told how to not only build wealth but how to pass it down to the next generation after us. These are the goals of a lot of people.
Solomon said the problem with doing this is that we will die and leave all we have to someone else and then we have no control over how it is used. In fact, he said we may leave it to a fool who will waste it all and then all of the toil in our lives has been wasted and gone for nothing. It is vanity and like chasing the wind.
Jesus, and later Paul, said we are to lay up treasures in heaven where it will not decay or be destroyed. We do this when we follow the will of God and show his love to others. This is often as simple as a smile or a kind word. Every good deed is a deposit that will earn interest in our heavenly account.
O Lord God, my Father in heaven, help me not put my trust in earthly wealth or in material things. Open my heart to the needs of others and help me show your love to all those around me. Help me be positive in my outlook as I live in the hope of being with you in eternity. Use me to be kind, compassionate, merciful, and forgiving to all. I thank you for all the material things you have given me but even more I thank you for my friends and family. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
