You’re not safe here

Americans, in general, exist in comfort. Even those struggling in what we might term poverty are rich compared to the living conditions of billions of people who are fighting to survive every day in Third World countries. Aside from expressing thanks in our rushed daily prayers or around the Thanksgiving table, we might not think much about the blessings we have.

But what happens when our security begins to be threatened by those who seek to steal, by policies that seek to strip our freedom of conscience, and by disasters that defy human efforts to subdue? We find ourselves lost in an existential crisis that no money can buy our way out of.

If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that health is fragile, and life is fleeting. How quickly things can change in even just one day. A loved one is well and thriving one moment and gone too soon the next. There is little we can do other than seek the best treatments, the best preemptive health measures, and perhaps the most elusive of all – a hope that things will one day get better.

I’m not saying any of this to cause fear or depression. Lord knows we have enough of that going around already. The way I see it, those struggles have been more destructive than the microscopic virus that has captivated, and taken captive, so many. Concern about physical sickness has led to mental breakdowns and has exacerbated the epidemic of hurting, broken souls.

I AM saying all this to drive home one very important point that we tend to miss when our foundations are shaken (or when we realize our foundations aren’t as sure as we imagined them to be): This world is not our home.

When Jesus walked this earth, he spoke the following parable:

“The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops’. Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21).

In those times of blessing, how do we react? Do we try to hang on to our blessings so much so that we’re willing to go out of our way, invest even more, in order to assure our own security? This parable makes clear that our future is not wrapped up in our temporary accumulations here on earth. Especially when we remember that tomorrow, or even our next breath, is not promised to us. As Jesus was saying to His listeners then, He says to us now: true riches and security are found only in our relationship with, and toward our Creator. What does it mean to be “rich toward God”? It means we hold out our earthly, fading “riches” with open hands. All we have is what He’s entrusted to us, and we won’t have it a minute longer than He planned for us to have it. Rather than trying to build our own security – our bank account, possessions, or our five- or ten-year-plan – how are we investing in the things that really matter? What are we doing to not only remind ourselves that time here is uncertain, and limited, but to remind others of the same? What are we doing to draw others to the life-saving gospel found in Jesus Christ?

“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3).

What are we doing to place true treasures in the place they will last forever?

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Is your heart looking to eternity? Do you know that you have been saved from sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf? If so, you are secure and free to live this life with hands open – to give and receive as the Lord guides, for His purposes and for His glory.

In this freedom, you are also empowered to take your eyes off of yourself and look to the hurting world that is all around us. No one else is promised tomorrow, either. Have you told them how they can find everlasting security as well? The only certainty we can have in this life is not just death and taxes, as Benjamin Franklin once quipped – but in the sovereignty and mercy of God, our Creator. He is gracious, but He is also the righteous judge. Heaven is for real, but so is Hell.

Let’s keep our minds and hearts on things above, even as we live here below.