I came across this Time Magazine article the other day…

Money Isn’t Everything – But Status Is!

What it reveals is that people are not so much motivated by money, but only with having more than the next person in their little group or neighbourhood.  Here’s a quote from the article:

The higher a person ranked within his age group or neighborhood, the more status he had and the happier he was regardless of how much he made in dollars (or, in the study’s case, pounds). “What we’re trying to do is understand and explain why, over 30 to 40 years, the large economic growth we have experienced hasn’t made us any happier,” says Boyce. “If absolute income matters, as we increased our income, everybody should get happier at a national level, but we don’t seem to. So what we are showing is that in terms of life satisfaction, rank is a better predictor than absolute wealth.”

This explains something deep within human nature: PRIDE.  The author, C.S. Lewis, captured it this way:

Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest.

And here’s the conundrum that we humans war with: someone’s always better looking, in better shape, has a newer or nicer car, a bigger home, a higher resolution TV or camera, more karats in that ring…  So contentment and peace escape us.  We see this so easily in others but often are blind to it in ourselves.

This is fascinating because it basically tells us point-blank that peace, contentment and joy are always elusive when we have a worldly mentality.  The advertisers and brand-gurus know this well, feed off it and build their empires on this premise.  They know that the more they tie our self-worth to things, the more we are enslaved to them.  To say Christians somehow stand above the fray in this regard would be an out-and-out lie.  But for those of us who have our security in the Lord Jesus, it should be different.

The Lord had this to say:

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” - Luke 12:15

The best place to be is in a state where you are fully conscience of your deep need for God.

Why?  Because you will find no rest until you find him.  The first words out of Jesus’ mouth, when he preached his first message, were “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” God is near. On the flipside, the worst place to be is to claim that you see, that you know God, when in truth you just know about Him, your faith is dead, your love is cold and your soul can actually be satisfied with things. God is far.

A documentary called “Quicksand UAE” is introduced with this teaser:

As the spire was fixed to the world’s tallest building, celebration lit up the skies of Dubai. Yet for many, the building was the height of Dubai’s folly, giving a panoramic view of the empty desert and abandoned building sites below.

At the end of the day, we should come to the understanding that the main element of a sand castle is sand.  It may take the shape of a castle, reflect the pomp of a castle and even possess a castle’s high walls, but before you move in, consider its structural composition.

Dubai.  The “shopping capital of the Middle East”, maybe even the world, is known not only for its commercial opulence (over 70 malls in one city), but it is also the home of the world’s most expensive hotel.  As of January 2010, it now boasts the world’s tallest building – 320 metres taller than its nearest rival!  But as the commentator in the video says, the tower is seen not “only as the peak of Dubai’s achievement, but the height of its folly.”

It is a major oil hub as well, which accounts for a massive amount of its revenues.  It is well known as the land of excess as far as the Middle East goes.  Even though the Islamic-steeped government of Dubai rejects gambling, there are striking similarities between Las Vegas – specifically the Strip – and Dubai.  In fact, some define it as “Las Vegas on Steroids”, an “Oasis of Hedonism.” For a case in point, click here.

People come here to get away with things they could never do at home.  But it appears that for many, the party is over.

Just 3 years since the peak of the building boom, thousands upon thousands of unfinished properties scatter the landscape.  Dubai’s glittering facade has now fallen away.  Many people, ex-patriates (people who are citizens of other countries), literally drove to the airport and dumped their cars, opting to leave the country altogether.

They kept building higher and higher skyscrapers.  More and more opulent resorts, hotels and tourist traps.   Skiing indoors in the middle of the sweltering desert: check!

The history of the city is like a game of Jenga: “You take a block from the bottom and put it on top.”  It is a game that is bound to end sometime – and with a big crash as the tower comes tumbling down.  Why?  Because in order to build higher, you need to erode the foundation.

Think of it.  Three short years ago, investors and ex-pats were flocking to the land of opportunity, known as Dubai.  Now, many of these people have fled like cockroaches when the lights are turned on.  It was smoke-and-mirrors.  Illusion.

Dubai is an ideal picture of what is happening worldwide right now (to get a picture of how things will end, flip to Revelation 18‘s outline of global economic collapse).  But more importantly, it also typifies how many people decide to build their lives.  Pushing ahead but paying little attention to the foundation that holds up the entire structure, even though the foundation is what’s essential.

Why is this? Well, let’s face it: foundation building is not very glamourous.  Besides, other people don’t really see the foundation because it resides below the surface.  It’s much more attractive to interior decorate.  That’s what people see, and that’s what they’ll comment on.  When people pass by they don’t look down, they look up to the spire at the top of the building.  So this dictates how we build our lives a lot of the time.

We race ahead, furiously climbing the ladder of success, only to reach the top and realize the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.  It’s too late for “Oops.”

As Christians, we are to build our lives on the solid rock of God’s word:

“I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” – Luke 6:47-49

Does it take longer to lay the foundation on rock?  Yes.  A sand castle can thrown up rather quickly and still carry the name ‘castle’.  But when the flood comes - and it will come - reality is quickly revealed for what it is.  Don’t be hasty.  Build your life with care.  Build your life with God.

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. - 1 John 2:17

One of the most beautiful and humble statements in the entire course of the Bible can be found in the Book of Job.  This man had everything, and I mean everything, stripped away from him including all his assets and all his children, not to mention his physical health.  He could not come to terms with how a man who had tried his entire life to please God was suddenly suffering such a plight.  His friends tried to counsel and comfort him, but to no avail.

Finally the Lord spoke to him, basically telling Job that in the end, He alone is sovereign over all.  Job folds and says this:

My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you. – Job 42:5

This scripture stops me dead.  Why?  Because how many of us have heard about God and automatically equated this with knowing God.  If I hold up a picture of a famous athlete, everyone might recognize him, but how many actually know him?  What is he really like?  In our day of information overload, we can make the fatal error of thinking we know someone or something because we have acquired knowledge about it or them.  In the final judgment at the end of this age, many will stand before Christ, confused that knowledge about Him was actually knowing Him.  Nothing could be further from the truth. (Matthew 7:21-22).

The amazing thing with Job was that even though he was holy, pious, generous and God-fearing, he was humble enough to realize that when it came to the depth of God, he knew nothing.  It took the most severe of trials to actually acquaint him with the person of God, not the religion of God.

We can only know God through the Lord Jesus, who is the image of God’s person.  No human can look directly into the sun (God), but we can gaze at the moon (Jesus) and see the reflection of the sun’s glory.  We do ourselves the greatest disservice possible to man when we satisfy ourselves in knowing about Him instead of knowing Him.

This is what the LORD says:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,

but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.

Coming to know the Lord is the process of a lifetime, full of trials, but I am persuaded that there is nothing greater.

You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

- Psalm 16:11

It’s nice to come across a verse of scripture that really speaks your heart better than your mouth can.  This sums up exactly why I feel so thankful to the Lord.

He has revealed to me the path to life.  I didn’t find it by searching.  It has been by His incomprehensible goodness and mercy alone.  It is not easy by any stretch, but I would trade this path for nothing.  Because He has done this, I can have peace, joy and assurance here and now.  What price can you pay for this?  May my vision never dim, but may I treasure Him more and more.

One day I will pass from this earth.  That is sure, as it is for us all.

But what makes me sing now…  what propels me to walk this path…  what makes me smile for no apparent reason at times…  what makes tears come to my eyes…  what makes me want to tell others…

Is that in the right hand of God, through the sacrifice of Christ, is the promise of eternal life, extended to a wretch like me.  Heavenly Father, I appreciate You.

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.  It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” – C.S. Lewis

Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. – John 18:28

For months on end, the Jewish elite had conspired to trap Jesus.  They had brought a woman to him who had just been caught in the act of adultery to see how he would judge the matter.  They had tried to trip him up by getting him to condemn the government, and thereby implicate himself as some sort of rebel worthy of punishment.  They had rallied false witnesses who were paid to condemn him.  They gave Judas 30 pieces of silver for his hand in turning Jesus over to them according to their scheme.

But somehow, this was all okay.  Yet when it came to external matters such as “defiling” themselves by being in the home of a Gentile (non-Jew) before the passover, this was a transgression of their religion.

They continue lying, willingly exchange a cold-blooded criminal for Jesus, shout “Crucify Him!”, sit back and watch as he gets nailed up.  Then their religion enters again:

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. - John 19:31

When you break the legs of a person who has been crucified by smashing his knees with a sledgehammer, he can no longer hold himself up.  Instead he only has his wrists for support.  The person ends up not being able to take a breath and they then suffocate, dying faster than they normally would.

They had become so blind.  Here their religion is stripped down to what it really was: a man-made set of rules and rituals that had nothing to do with the living God.  They were careful not to break the Sabbath and defile themselves before the Passover, but had willfully and deceitfully led a man to crucifixion, thinking they were actually doing God a service by ridding the Earth of him.

Today religion still reigns.  It cleans the outside, but leaves the inner person unchanged.  Many people prefer religion because it makes no real intrusions on them, while allowing them to maintain a good feeling.  It’s like a marriage where the husband and wife have decided to stay together to save face, but have no real, deep love or desire for each other. Religious, yet lost.

Jesus came to dismantle religion, in effect, setting people free from a delusional relationship with God.  He came to point us to the true path: the narrow gate and narrow path.

The story of the Old Testament, including the time leading up to Jesus’ day, is a catalog of Israel’s inability to be inwardly what they professed to be outwardly.  Religiosity is as natural as breathing for the human.  But to live, truly alive unto God, is rare.

In today’s world, would it be incorrect to say that Jesus has many admirers but very few followers?

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. – James 1:27

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

What caused the Lord Jesus to arrive at this conclusion?

Imagine Him sitting there quietly, observing what was happening.  If we use our imagination, we might see one man coming in, decked in fine robes, with an elaborately jeweled box which he opens and then dumps the contents into the offering.  Gold and silver.  How impressive!  Following him is another man, perhaps focused on outdoing the one before him, with an offering so large that it’s carried on two poles with servants on either side.  A subtle nod of recognition happens between the man and the dignified-looking senior priests who were also watching what was happening.  This procession might have gone on for some time, offering after offering.  After the religious show, an old widow hobbles in and gives a paltry offering hardly worth giving at all.  No show.  No nods of acknowledgement.

And yet, look what Jesus concludes.  Isn’t it amazing?

In the eyes of men, the larger gifts undoubtedly received greater recognition.  And the givers most likely equated the size of their gifts with their religious piety.  Definitely the onlookers did.  The more one gave, the more holy, worthy of praise and recognition.  But the Lord didn’t look at the quantity of what was given.  He looked way past that, to the heart.

Did the value of their gifts really reflect how deeply they valued God?  Our answer is above.  The Lord said they gave out of their abundance, their leftovers.  We call this half-heartedness.  Based on His rebuke in Matthew 6 regarding doing good deeds for personal glory, we might conclude that there was little purity in their motives.

On the other side, though her offering was microscopic, the widow’s value for God impressed the Lord, because of the sacrifice she made.  Jesus was teaching His disciples an important lesson on the state of the heart.  She gave all of her living, all she had, all her heart.  Her deep love and reverence for God, while ignored by men, was seen and appreciated by Christ.  This is not a lesson about money at all, but about how the true state of our hearts can easily be covered over by external show.  Well, in the eyes of ourselves and our fellow men and women.

How about you?  Forget about your possessions.  How much of your heart soars in worship and adoration towards God?  Maybe not at all, which might be an honest conclusion.  The more religious might have the outward demonstration down pat – church attendance, good works, rituals.  But is this what God really wants?

The truth is that He wants your heart.  When God has your heart, you have true riches.  The problem is, we don’t give God our hearts because we really don’t know Him.  This poor widow cast herself upon God, despite the hardships she had been dealt in this life.  They didn’t destroy her faith, but seemed to lift her closer to her God.

When we look at our own lives in relationship to God, we often look at the symptoms.  The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, half-hearted or stagnant.  The core is why we are this way.  It is because we have an inaccurate view of God.  We don’t know Him – we’ve only heard about Him.

May the Lord expand our hunger for Him and understanding of who He is.  May we learn that what He wants is our hearts.  And when we give Him our hearts, only then do we experience the peace and joy that so eludes us.  May we understand God’s economy and weigh ourselves and others accordingly.

I can’t remember where I heard this statement, but it rings true for so many facets of life:

“Play now and you’ll pay later.  Pay now and your play later.”

It is that time of year in which the Superbowl descends upon the world, perhaps more in the US than anywhere else.  It’s a multi-billion dollar game with so much on the line.  Over 90 million Americans will sit down on Sunday afternoon, February 7th, to take in the spectacle.

This week, Time Magazine has a very interesting article out that asks the question, Is Football Too Dangerous?

From the article, an ex-player who is now lobbying for greater safety measures in the NFL, says this:

“Guys don’t think about life down the road,” says Harry Carson, a Hall of Fame ex-linebacker who has postconcussion symptoms like headaches. “They want the car. They want the bling. They want to have a nice life.”

The bottom line calculation players make? Play now and I’ll pay later.

But, like the many ex-players interviewed later in life, the cost of paying later far outweighs the benefits of playing.  They just couldn’t fathom the price at the time.

According to a poll, something like 80% of Olympic athletes would be willing to reduce their lifespan by 5 years if it meant they could win a medal for their country.  In their eyes, the glory of the present outweighs the future.

Now ask yourself: do you make the same wager?  How much do eternal things weigh in your mind versus the present and all it has to offer.  The ‘promise of now’ dwarfs the ‘promise of then’ for the majority of people.  Are you playing now, not knowing that you will pay later?

Are you willing to ‘pay’ now so that you can ‘play’ later?  To live according to God’s commands and follow Christ in order to spend eternity in Their presence?  It will be worth it all – if only we could understand.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Please think about it.