do you lust after asphalt and paper?
Thought for today:
When a lot of Christians talk about heaven, they’ll talk about streets of gold. You know what I’m talking about. We talk about the riches of heaven, so we talk about passages like Revelation 21:18-21. The new Jerusalem is built of gold and encrusted with precious gemstones.
It made me think when I was in prayer today: I don’t lust after asphalt. If God made me choose between two masters - God and asphalt - I’m choosing God. I’m grateful for good pavement, but it’s not like I’m going to hack out chunks and steal it or anything.
So, if we were to truly put on the eyes of God and see things from a heavenly perspective, wouldn’t we see gold as what it is - just a metal? It can be beautifully crafted and it can look great around someone’s neck or finger, but in view of eternity, it’s just another metal. Obviously it’s not a commodity in heaven, if God is building a city out of it.
What about money? It’s just paper. Why lust after paper? I don’t see anyone ditching God over a ream of Staples extra-bright. It’s not the material, it’s the effect that that material can have on the world. Its power and appeal is completely worldly, no?
There’s a couple of ways I could go with this, but this isn’t an article, it’s just something that came into my head when I was praying. I hope it gets us thinking about the nature of wealth and striving to be wealthy.
Getting a proper (heavenly) perspective on things changes us!
Grace and peace,
Brendan
