Sometimes I even find myself asking these questions; because
I see people in my everyday life who do not pursue Christ but have been blessed
with wealth. But I guess wealth can also be a curse at times.
Life App: The wealth of the wicked suddenly loses its power
at death and the rewards for the good suddenly take on eternal value. What
seemed like wealth is now waste, what seemed worthless now lasts forever.
v. 25-26 are very popular verses and two that I really love:
“Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I
desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of
my heart and my portion forever.”
We need to understand those two verses and live our lives by
them. God is the only thing that satisfies; He is ultimately the only thing
that keeps us going. Once we truly find our identity and satisfaction in Christ
then we will be truly happy and everything else will fall into place.
The pursuit of holiness is not easy. It is very tough and
draining. But we must be obedient. Much of our greatest rewards and results of
our obedience will be seen in heaven. By this being the way God works, He
continues to show us that it’s not about us humans but about Him–God.
One day those that pursue happiness and the things of this
world will fall away (1 John 2:15-17). Those that pursue holiness will see how
awesome God is and how He truly knows best. God wants us to bear the fruit of
the Spirit not the fruits of sin. Therefore, we must spend time with the
Spirit. The cool thing is that the Spirit lives in us and He’s with us at all
times. As long as we continue to feed it with the Word and other “spiritual
snacks”, like Christian books and music, then we will be able to stand strong
in the Spirit because it’s not starving. Our flesh will be starving because it
has been ignored so that the Spirit in us can gain strength to fight and make
war.
Life App: Don’t let your life’s goals be so unreal that you
awaken too late and miss the reality of God’s truth. Happiness and hope can be
a reality but only when they are based on God, not on riches. Because reality
is in God, we should get as close to Him as we can in order to be realistic
about life.
This advice is not saying don’t dream big. It’s saying to
talk with God about your dreams and aspirations and the two of you make plans
on how to get it done. Or, rather God tells you how He’s going to have you get
it done. God desires that we do great and big things for His glory and not our
own. Once we live our lives with that mindset, great things can be accomplished
for the Gospel.
The Gospel is the thing that should be the adrenaline rush
in our lives, relationships, jobs, etc.
Satisfaction and pleasure solely come from Christ. Pursue
Christ!
