Men are only a vapor; exalted men, an illusion. Weighed in the scales, they go up. Together they are less than a vapor. Place no trust in oppression or false hope in robbery. If wealth increases, pay no attention to it. (Verses 9-10)
"Don't look for big things, just do small things with great love...The smaller the thing, the greater must be our love." Mother Teresa
How do we get ahead in this world? More importantly, why does it matter? What, as the U2 song implies, are we looking for anyway? Sure we want to survive. Food in our stomachs, clothes on our backs and shelter over our heads. Most of the world settles for that....or less. Great people and small all have the same earthly future, however. We will all die. Our lives vaporized and gone from here. Weighed on those scales, we are pretty lightweight. Lighter than air. No dead billionaire now has his money with him in the grave. No beggar now wants for bread. We are all on the same playing field when it comes to our demise.
So what's it all about? What's the point of it all? Wealth, fame and power are as fleeting as poverty. On God's scale, they both go up. So what is the weight holding the other side of the scales down? Good question. God's glory - His weightiness. Made for Him and in His likeness, it is what we do because of Him that brings our lives earthly and eternal meaning. Whether in the poverty in which Mother Teresa willingly immersed herself or in the riches of a billionaire like R.J. LeTourneau, it is God Who bestows our calling and the necessities for it. LeTourneau, who quit school at the age of fourteen, became a jack of all trades in his youth. His expertise became machinery and by World War II the earth moving equipment he created amounted to seventy percent of all the machinery used in that war. LeTourneau was immensely wealthy, but decided to live on only ten percent of what he earned. He gave the rest to God in Christian causes and philanthropy. When he died at the age of eighty, he took nothing with him. But, be assured, there were riches awaiting him.
God isn't interested in giving us riches for the sake of making us rich. Our God is concerned with the weightiness of our lives on His heavenly scales. He gives no more honor to a Donald Trump than to the Salvation Army bell ringer. Great preaching or gospel singing contracts aren't what He is after. Our Father is concerned about our purposes. For that is all we truly leave when all is said and done. Psalm 139 declares our Father has dreamed a dream for us. Intricately "woven" us in our mother's wombs to be and do something that is weighty to Him though it might not look like much to the world in general. This world may, in fact, never notice us. Our purposes in their eyes may look minuscule. But the glory of our vaporous journey here on earth is doing, with great love for our Savior, what we are lovingly designed to do. If that brings great wealth, don't pay attention to it. Our purposes aren't tied up in that. If it calls us to great sacrifice, don't pay attention to that, either. Our pride in our own humility is also a trap. Weighed in the balance, we don't want to be found wanting. We should desire the weight, the glory, of our lives to be a reflection of His.
Without love, we are nothing. So says Paul, in I Corinthians. If all our gain is selfish, we are lost, for wealth has become an end in itself and once obtained is vacuous. If our physical, emotional or spiritual poverty defines us, our lives will stay there. The motivation that drives us to a reason for living is love. Created by a God Who is love, we can reasonably assume all He called us to is for love. Love of Him first. Giving over to God's great plans our own so they have a glory we are too small to bestow.
"Don't look for big things, just do small things with great love...The smaller the thing, the greater must be our love." Mother Teresa
How do we get ahead in this world? More importantly, why does it matter? What, as the U2 song implies, are we looking for anyway? Sure we want to survive. Food in our stomachs, clothes on our backs and shelter over our heads. Most of the world settles for that....or less. Great people and small all have the same earthly future, however. We will all die. Our lives vaporized and gone from here. Weighed on those scales, we are pretty lightweight. Lighter than air. No dead billionaire now has his money with him in the grave. No beggar now wants for bread. We are all on the same playing field when it comes to our demise.
So what's it all about? What's the point of it all? Wealth, fame and power are as fleeting as poverty. On God's scale, they both go up. So what is the weight holding the other side of the scales down? Good question. God's glory - His weightiness. Made for Him and in His likeness, it is what we do because of Him that brings our lives earthly and eternal meaning. Whether in the poverty in which Mother Teresa willingly immersed herself or in the riches of a billionaire like R.J. LeTourneau, it is God Who bestows our calling and the necessities for it. LeTourneau, who quit school at the age of fourteen, became a jack of all trades in his youth. His expertise became machinery and by World War II the earth moving equipment he created amounted to seventy percent of all the machinery used in that war. LeTourneau was immensely wealthy, but decided to live on only ten percent of what he earned. He gave the rest to God in Christian causes and philanthropy. When he died at the age of eighty, he took nothing with him. But, be assured, there were riches awaiting him.
God isn't interested in giving us riches for the sake of making us rich. Our God is concerned with the weightiness of our lives on His heavenly scales. He gives no more honor to a Donald Trump than to the Salvation Army bell ringer. Great preaching or gospel singing contracts aren't what He is after. Our Father is concerned about our purposes. For that is all we truly leave when all is said and done. Psalm 139 declares our Father has dreamed a dream for us. Intricately "woven" us in our mother's wombs to be and do something that is weighty to Him though it might not look like much to the world in general. This world may, in fact, never notice us. Our purposes in their eyes may look minuscule. But the glory of our vaporous journey here on earth is doing, with great love for our Savior, what we are lovingly designed to do. If that brings great wealth, don't pay attention to it. Our purposes aren't tied up in that. If it calls us to great sacrifice, don't pay attention to that, either. Our pride in our own humility is also a trap. Weighed in the balance, we don't want to be found wanting. We should desire the weight, the glory, of our lives to be a reflection of His.
Without love, we are nothing. So says Paul, in I Corinthians. If all our gain is selfish, we are lost, for wealth has become an end in itself and once obtained is vacuous. If our physical, emotional or spiritual poverty defines us, our lives will stay there. The motivation that drives us to a reason for living is love. Created by a God Who is love, we can reasonably assume all He called us to is for love. Love of Him first. Giving over to God's great plans our own so they have a glory we are too small to bestow.
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