I was reading the Psalms this morning and Psalm 49 really hit me between the eyes in a big way. Every morning I watch the news and the business report comes on and even though I am not an investor I am interested in how things are going with the economy. I pray for the success of businesses in my town. I want people to do well. But no amount of money is going to save their souls. There are no U-Hauls behind hearsts.
A friend of mind died suddenly last week. Jesus Christ paid the ransom for that man’s soul with His precious blood on the cross. Sin has got us all in its grip from the moment we are born. But Jesus died to ransom us from sin. My friend’s soul is in heaven because he belonged to Christ. His soul was bought back from sin with the blood of The Messiah.
David wrote this: Don’t trust in wealth and in abundant riches for these cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God - since the price of redeeming him is too costly. In other words it takes more than the security of wealth or your net worth to secure your eternity in paradise. No amount of human wealth can do that. Only the blood of Christ was enough to pay the ransom to set us free from sin.
Verse 12 says that despite his assets, man will not last. He is like the animals that perish. This is the way of those who are arrogant about their wealth. When a man dies he takes nothing with him except what he did out of love for God and people. The difference you make in someone’s life is the only thing you take with you. The love you give in this life is the only eternal asset.
Jesus said “store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt and where thieves cannot break in and steal.”
Make 2018 a year where you choose to invest in people’s lives and make a difference in their life. Jesus said when you love people you love Him. When you invest in their joy you receive joy. The way to be truly rich is to be an investor in the Kingdom of God.
Some of us are so worried about money and clothes and the things we can see. Jesus said, “Stop worrying about all that and seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all these other things you have been worrying about will be taken care of.”
We need His advice in 2018. Big things are going to happen in 2018. The best life insurance is Jesus Christ and the best investment is loving people on his behalf. That is is a treasure beyond anything this world has to offer.
You are a forever person, make sure you are investing your life in forever things. Make sure that you are free from sin and death and hell and that you have been ransomed out of sin’s clutches by the blood of Christ. Make sure that you are investing your life and time and money into forever things and not temporary things.
‘Nuff Said.
They trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches. Yet these cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God — since the price of redeeming him is too costly, one should forever stop trying — so that he may live forever and not see the Pit.
Psalm 49:6-9 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm%2049:6-9&version=HCSB
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