Dale Ridge church of Christ

A CNN headline of today asks “Can Things Get Even Worse?” 

While obviously a reference to the current economic situation, this sad pessimism is all too common across every area of life.  The human condition seems to be one prone to worry.  We like to sing “woe is me”rather than follow the 1897 advice of hymnist Johnston Oatman Jr in his classic “Count Your Many Blessings” .

Well, can things get any worse?  Sure they can.  The economy can get worse.  Almost every position we shall know in this life can falter.  The key to this last statement is “in this life”.  When we set our resolve to focus on the earthly realm, we had better prepare ourselves for disappointment.  In fact, we welcome it.

Typical of his practical mind, the great British statesman Sir Winston Churchill held this view : “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”  In other words, it is not by our wealth, not by our jobs, not by our material status that we should esteem our lives.  It is by what we do with the time we are given.

The man that made southern fried chicken world famous made a valuable observation about measuring life’s success by wealth.  The “Kentucky Colonel” Harland Sanders pointed out “it does not pay to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can do no business there.”  No, you can’t take it with you, even if you think that cash is finger lickin’ good.

Our saviour the Lord Jesus teaches much on materialism, and worry.  When the media would seek to fill our minds with gloom and doom, when our friends and neighbors focus solely on what the stock market is doing, and when we are tempted to fret overmuch concerning our 401k plans, our stock assets, and the general future, we do well to remember Him.

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”  Matt 6:34

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Filed under: Authors, Gregg Alexander on October 10th, 2008