Keeping Up with the Temporal

Psalm 73:1-12

Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart.
² But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
³  For I was envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴ For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
⁵ They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace;
    violence covers them as a garment.
⁷ Their eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸ They scoff and speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹ They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
¹⁰ Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find no fault in them.
¹¹ And they say, “How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹² Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they increase in riches.

***

I don't know about you, reader, but I have felt this way more times than I can count. I look at the rich and powerful, and it's clear that they are able to provide for themselves. They can buy anything they need or want for any reason. They can pay others to do hard work they don't want to do themselves. When times are tough, they don't feel it. They float along the top of society while less fortunate people drown beneath. 

And what accompanies this wealth? Flippancy toward the Almighty.

When people put their trust in wealth, they begin to feel like God can't do anything for them that they can't do themselves. They seek wealth because wealth equals security. It means that your friends will never judge you because you don't have the latest whatever, or you can't get your kid into such-and-such a school, or you can't attend the fancy weekend away. It means security from the dangers of being shelter-less and hungry and the dangers of being socially outcast. 

Jesus flies in the face of all of this.

As Christians, our ultimate goal should be the glory of God.

It is first.

It is primary.

It is the lens through which we ought to see all things.

This is intensely difficult for us to grasp sometimes. We put so many things in front of Jesus! Most of us, when push came to shove, would never utter another word about God if someone constantly had a gun to our head and told us they'd kill us if we did. Why? Because we value our lives. 

There is nothing wrong with wanting to live. God gave you the life He gave you for a reason. But when we are faced with the choice of continued life or giving God glory, things get messy.

Or do they?

The choice is actually pretty simple: If you value God being glorified more than anything, you will never stop glorifying Him. If you value your life above His glory, you will comply with the gunman.

Where it can get dicey is this: You know you should honor God with your life and glorify Him, but you are attached to other stuff; stuff like living, or your family, or your money.

But here's the thing: This world is not our home. We belong in communion with our King. Scripture calls us "aliens and strangers" in this world. Jesus tells us that those who follow him are not of the world, and the world will hate them for it. This is the true word of God. 

So many of us want it both ways. We want to value God and money at the same time. But Jesus blatantly tells us that we "cannot serve both God and money." One has to win. One has to take priority. The scary thing about this is that we have to trust God for our needs. We need to deny ourselves. Most folks want enough money for what they need and what they want; Jesus wants you to rely on him, because in the end he's all we have anyway. He promises us in Matthew that the Father will provide for our needs. Why doesn't he tell us he will provide for our wants? Because he knows all we should want is him, whom the Father has already graciously given us. What else could we possibly desire in light of him?

Jesus first. All else second.