I am amazed at the number of people
who are simply wandering through life with no real direction or purpose.
We are in the greatest financial boom in American history since the post-World
War II years, yet people continue to fall into poverty. From 1995
to 1997 bankruptcies increased over 50%. How can it be, we make money,
but we still end up poor?
Israel experienced this:
“You have planted much, but you harvest little. You eat,
but you do not become full. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You put
on clothes, but you are not warm enough. You earn money, but then you lose
it all as if you had put it into a purse full of holes.”
Haggai 1:6 (NCV)
The problem is, we haven’t looked
to God for our strength and wisdom. With our new-found prosperity
we felt we were “masters of our own destiny,” we didn’t need God in our
lives. Perhaps we once attended church, but now we have fallen out
of the habit. We may have once been in tune with God, but we have
turned to our own wisdom. “There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12 NIV).
The reality is, God wants to
bless us! He wants us to prosper and experience all the joys of living
on earth right now. “Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure
in the prosperity of His servant” (Psalm 35:27 NKJV). When we decide
to serve the Lord, to be generous with others, to serve others, to worship
God, to be related to other believers, then He will bless us.
Perhaps you’ve been ignoring
the Lord in your life, thinking you were okay without Him. That works
for a while, but eventually, you realize God is there for you to make a
real difference in your life right now. Stop trying to run your life
on your own. Instead, turn your life over to the one who is the Originator
of life, He will bless you immensely.
.
Last updated 2/6/00
©1998 Chris M. Howlett. All rights reserved.
