True Riches

If you will listen, I will answer you from my own experience. And it is confirmed by the experience of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers, those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived. Wicked people are in pain throughout their lives. They are surrounded by terrors, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer. They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered. They wander abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' They know their ruin is certain. That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for an attack. For they have clenched their fists against God, defying the Almighty. Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him. These wicked people are fat and rich, but their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down. They will not continue to be rich. Their wealth will not endure, and their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon. They will not escape the darkness. The flame will burn them up, and the breath of God will destroy everything they have. Let them no longer trust in empty riches. They are only fooling themselves, for emptiness will be their only reward. They will be cut down in the prime of life, and all they counted on will disappear. They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested before they are ripe, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms so the fruit cannot form. For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will be consumed by fire. They conceive trouble and evil, and their hearts give birth only to deceit. (Job 15:17-35 NLV).

How Poor Are We? One day a father and his rich family took his son to a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night in the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "Very good Dad!" "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Yeah!" "And what did you learn?" The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon." When the little boy was finishing, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!"

Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude towards life, then you've got everything! Job understood that principle. Even when it seemed everyone and everything was lost to him, he knew that God would never leave him. That became the foundation for his sense of wealth. There have been many people who have left us with this example to follow.

Ellen Meisberger wrote, “Money can buy a bed but not sleep, a hammer but not a carpenter,
things but not friends, a toy but not a child's happiness, a pen and paper but not an author, a pencil but not an idea, a house but not a home, an agreement but not peace, paints but not an artist, eyeglasses but not eyesight, a chair but not rest, a computer but not wisdom, a school but not students, death but not life, a flag but not patriotism, a gun but not a soldier, a book but not knowledge, a machine but not a skill, a desk but not a teacher, a name but not a man, a church but not a religion, an altar but not salvation, and a cross but not a savior.

Look for the true riches God has placed around you today and give Him thanks!