Previous Reflections
REFLECTIONS
July 10th, 2016I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:19, 21-24
Building Hope for Tomorrow
“Another day, another dollar,” the old saying goes. It references a time in history when a dollar represented the standard daily wage. The saying is now outdated with today’s standard pay at a large multiple of the olden days. Yet the pursuit of prosperity is as strong today as it has always been. The accumulation of least some level of wealth is a goal for many; and the attainment of it is the measure commonly associated with “success.” But Jesus explained that success is not found in a person’s wealth.
He tells the parable of the rich man with no space in his barns to store his grain. So, the man determined to tear down the old barns and build bigger ones to store it all. Then he would say to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ (Luke 12:16-20)
Building wealth for tomorrow is the prevailing daily objective in our culture today. Perhaps it’s an objective that has always been and that is the reason Jesus talked of it. So maybe the objective is really not one about accumulating wealth for tomorrow. Rather the objective should be building hope for tomorrow.
The rich man placed hope in his wealth, yet wealth would not buy him even one more day. In contrast the psalmist sees it this way:
Blessed is he whose… hope is in the LORD his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them —
the LORD, who remains faithful forever. (Psalm 146:5-6)
You are the light of the world,
Richard +
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