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WHAT AM I LIVING FOR ?
HOUSE / CAR SLAP ON THE BACK MONEY
The world today measures man's success by the amount of money he earns or possesses. People tend to look at others with special respect, honor, and admiration by the material wealth accounted in their name. With the abundance and sufficiency of resources at one's disposal come power, prestige, and recognition. For this reason, possessions - and how to accumulate even more- have become an overpowering priority instead of pleasing God.
While writing this article, an American citizen from Kuwait sent me an e-mail with the
information that I am a recipient of US$4.5 million dollars deposited by her husband in Abidjan Cote d'lvoire. She told me that her husband has worked with the Kuwait embassy for sometime but died in 2002. They were married for eleven years without a child. She emphasized that both of them are born again Christians. The sad part of her story is that the doctor had already diagnosed her with cancer, giving her only eight months to live at the most. Before her husband's death he had his wishes known that the money will be donated to a church that will take charge of an orphanage, widows, and the less fortunate among our brothers and sisters. They do not want their relatives to inherit the money because they are unconverted. She made it clear that the money will only be entrusted to someone who can take care of the maintenance of the church while propagating the word of God. Out of a bombshell from nowhere, I was the chosen one.
What a noble endeavor! Somehow, somewhere at the back of my head I keep asking myself just how many of us in the world must have already received a similar message. Just how many times her husband must have already died and risen from his grave that I supposed never existed? Just when will she be really inflicted with the dreaded disease so that she would no longer be able to fool others? Notwithstanding, I still hope against hope that the proposition by some sheer luck of fortune will come true. On second thought, with enough money in my hands I feared the possibility of changing my priorities on what to live for and usher in the worst scenario of my eternal damnation. To the two, I convey my prayers - confident that may they find some ray of light unto their darkened world. It is a fact known almost to everyone that some enterprising individuals have made use of their expertise in siphoning off other people's hard earned money through the wonders of the internet. What a way to live. And what a way to make a living! [Side note-these scams have been going around the Internet for several years. They want your bank account number so they can steal your money. Remember-if it sounds too good to be true-it is!! Editor].
There are people who regardless of the method used will risk their lives in the pursuit of their dreams. They spend most of their time and energy accumulating money. Some engage in illegal activities like extortion, drug trade, human trafficking, gun running, car-napping, kidnaping and the like if only to satisfy their own lust for pleasure and follow the proverbial human tendencies to make their life easy, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. "And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry" (Luke 12:19). They kill and defraud others to make a living. To this group, human life is expendable. God, to them, is but an invention of the human mind.
The Holy Bible doesn't say that money or the acquisition thereof is evil. It is the love of money that is. Money is a neutral thing that can be used to love or hate, to build or destroy, depending on how we use it. In other words it can make you holy or it can make you evil - much like anything else in life. It all depends on whether you follow or violate the unbreakable written laws that govern the universe. The tragic story of man reveals that all who had ever lived have broken God's eternal law. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
Others work just to make a living. Their minds are too preoccupied with the basic essentials of life. Beyond that, they have not really thought what they are living for. In effect, they are simply drifting through life. They passed away without even knowing the grand purpose of their existence. One day, in due time, when they will be given the opportunity to live again, when God's Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh, when the Holy Book will finally be opened to their understanding then they will appreciate the enormous value of their being. What a joyous time in God's redemptive plan would the Last Great Day be? Meanwhile, survival is the essence of their game. Deceived as they are, they innocently follow the pagan practices of the adversary. Sometimes, in their moments of desperation, the master of deception, the prince of the power of the air even serves as their last source of inner strength. Sham as it is, it temporarily eases the pains and hardships of their lamentable situations.
Others are born with a mission to serve and care for the sick, the downtrodden and the outcasts. An exceptional few in this category who have more than enough in life even sell their properties and give them to the poor as they travel along the road of their chosen vocation. They often live in cathedrals, convents, monasteries and orphanages. They may be honest, sincere and dedicated to the furtherance of their worthy cause, yet they are innocently involved in the propagation of the subtle lies of a counterfeit god. No matter how good their motives and intentions are, their effort cannot bring real peace and joy that only a right understanding of what the true God can bring.
Hidden from the consciousness of an unsuspecting world, a minute few have been destined to be called ahead from the rest of the human race. Though they are the weak, the despised and the based of things yet, they are privilege to understand the fantastic good news about the coming Kingdom of God (Matthew 1:23). While many of them labor hard to make a living yet, material possessions is counted last from among their priorities. They are more concerned with heavenly investment rather than the accumulation of perishable earthly things. Christ's admonition to "Seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you," rings a familiar tone in their hearts (Matthew 6:33). They also know that they are more than sparrows and care not seriously what tomorrow may bring for they are aware that they are strangers, pilgrims and passers by from the earth. Wealth and possessions to them are a gift from God and they consider themselves mere stewards to share it with others.
They are made to understand that the ultimate purpose of their calling is to develop God's Holy righteous character in preparation for their majestic role of being kings and priest in the world to come. The earth is merely their training ground while practicing in their present physical state the true meaning of love - the summation and embodiment of what a divine God can be. The kind of love from God that carries with it an unconditional commitment that transcends and rises above the physical requirements of the law made possible only by the presence of God's Holy Spirit dwelling in them.
Are you in pain right now? Are you sick and suffering, perhaps physically blind or deaf? Do you grieve the loss of a loved one? Have you lost a job? Are you financially hard up these days? Do you wonder where your next meal will come from? Has anyone taken advantage of you? Don't be seriously alarmed, "….My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons" (Hebrews 12: 5-6, 8).
Do you want more of God's character of love in you? Do you want God to express His love to you more and more each day? Then welcome God's loving correction here and now. Those chastisements are meant for the polishing and refinement of our character so that in due time we can effectively teach others surmount their own trials and tribulations which they will likewise be exposed to in a new world to come. All of us, consciously or unconsciously have priorities. Our priorities affect the way we think and do. They determine the direction of our lives. Take heed and consider, what we have really been living for.
Romeo Samudio
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