Riches are elusive - especially when we are pursuing them. Riches seldom fall into our laps, delivered on a silver platter, all nice and neat. We have to pursue, labor, direct our focus, and spend a whole lot of time going after them. Riches are not "prohibited" or "bad" for a Christian, but they are not the end-all - the main pursuit in life. We need to discover where our true riches are and how they are obtained, maintained, and continually refreshed.
Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself! Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder. (Proverbs 23:4-5)
Our true riches are not the "things" or "bank balance" we attain, but the richness of God's grace, love, and purpose in our lives. What we often find ourselves doing is pursuing what we "think" will make us happy in some sense, rather than accepting what we can "count on" to fulfill us totally. Once we determine our actions as either "pursuing" or "accepting", we might have a little indicator of what types of riches we are after in this lifetime! Those which elude us need to be pursued - those which are gifted to us need to be accepted.
God's grace and love are "accepted" riches - we "amass" them at the point of our acceptance of the sacrificial death of Christ and the placement of our hope in his finished work on the cross. We "accrue" these riches into our lives the longer we walk with Jesus and learn of him. Today's grace will be built upon tomorrow, and tomorrow's grace will increase even more into infinity. We are not really amassing "more" - just coming to appreciate the significance of his grace and love more fully each day. We are truly receiving, not pursuing, because God pursues US in order to bring us close to him. We just nuzzle up in response to his love and grace - this is what we often refer to as pursuing him.
Earthly treasures are fine - they fulfill a purpose in this life here on earth. Things like food, housing, clothing, and enough money to keep the lights on I am trusting God to provide - giving me good health and the ability to interact with life around me. What I am focused on daily is the purposeful spending of time getting into his Word, allowing it to get into me, and letting his still-small-voice speak into the depths of my spirit. We are unaware of the magnitude of God's riches until we allow him to reveal them to us. God wants us to beware of the "pursuit" of what doesn't really last. In turn, he hopes we will learn the meaning of our true "wealth" or "riches" - Jesus Christ. To be a child of God is to come into the fullness of all the "wealth" of God's Kingdom. Don't live to pursue what really doesn't matter in the end! Just sayin!
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