What really lasts after this life?
July 16, 2015
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” - Matthew 6:24
The famous 19th-century professor and naturalist Louis Agassiz was once invited to address the members of a learned society. Agassiz declined the invitation for the reason that giving lectures took up too much of the time that he wanted to devote to research and writing.
The society wouldn’t take no for an answer, and offered to pay the professor handsomely for his time if he would only come and give a speech. Agassiz responded, “Money is no inducement to me. I can’t afford to waste my time making money.”
Many, probably even most, people throughout the world today would never give such an answer. That’s because money is very often seen as the essence of life – the one thing that trumps everything else. Ultimately, the attitude behind this way of thinking is that money is what’s going to lead to happiness. Yet, that is simply not true.
When people are getting ready to leave this life behind and enter eternity, no one ever asks to be with his money or his work. No, when it comes down to it, the things that really matter in life are the people you love and the purpose for which you’ve lived.
Don’t be sucked in by the lie that money is everything. Instead, find your value in your relationships with others and your service to God. Those are the things that endure!
Prayer Challenge
Ask God to help you stay free from ascribing too much value to material things so you can focus on the things that really matter.
Questions for Thought
Think of a time when you put too much value on money. Did it really get you anywhere in life?
What are some words you can think of to describe a life that is, as the Bible says, “free from the love of money” (Hebrews 13:5)?
Visit the Senior Living Ministries website
