But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. (Luke 6:24 NASB)
This verse begins the "woes" in Jesus's teaching. The preceding verses spoke of the blessings to be found in the midst of what the world considers poverty. This verse begins a section on the dangers in what the world considers great wealth.
"Woe", Jesus says, "to those who are wealthy". It is apparent from the second part of the verse ("you have received your comfort in full") that those mentioned as wealthy have taken comfort in their wealth. Having material riches is not inherently wrong. Having riches becomes a problem for us when we put our faith in those riches we have accumulated rather than in Christ alone. When our hope for the future is in the amount of money in our trust funds, savings accounts, and investments we are in danger of eternity.
In a later passage, Jesus says that we cannot serve both God and riches. Protecting vast sums of money is time consuming and requires considerable attention. There is a very real danger that we can invest so much time and thought in wealth management that we neglect our investment in the Kingdom of God.
In material and in spiritual matters, the greatest return usually comes with the greatest investment. One day, we will see what yield our eternal investments have netted. We would do well to spend our time, energy, and resources on those Kingdom investments now. After all, a small investment now yields an eternal reward.
Today, pray that we and our loved ones will make significant investments in that which yields eternal rewards.
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Here's the link to last night's post:
http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-unusual-trip.html
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