The Cares of This Life, a Vanity

The Cares of This Life, a Vanity

Text: Matthew 13:22

‘He that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the Word that the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he became unfruitful’.

It is more important to have more of Christ in you than to have more of riches. When a man dies, his money remains in the banks. But when he was alive, he seems not to have enough to spend, always looking for more. Yet when he is gone, there is a lot of money not spent left for others to spend.

In a modern mobile phone, there are many functions but many are useless to the owner. For example, my phone has the following features:

Phone book, Camcorder, Alarm, Call Log, Palm Chat, Torch light, Messages, T-zone, Opera Mini, Media Player, Calculator, Image Viewer, Settings, Calendar, File Manager, Blue Tooth, World Clock, Profiles, Sound Recorder, Java, EBook Reader, Facebook, Email, Browser, Movie, FM Radio, Gmail, Currency Converter, Tasks, Notes, Connectivity, Phone Sync, Synchronization, Sim Tool Kit, Sim Manager, Web Link and Holy Bible – 37 functions in all.

I admire my phone and its features but do not understand what most of them are there for and in fact not really interested in them. I use mainly 10 of the functions because my major interest is to make and receive calls, send texts and read emails. The other 27 functions are useless to me.

In a mansion, about 80% of the space are not usually occupied or put to use. In a car, about 70% of the facilities in it are not utilized. Also in a wardrobe, about 70% of the clothing is not worn for months.  A whole life time of work and earnings that leaves the greater part behind for others to spend is a vanity. Vanity on vanity! All is vanity, vanities (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

 Proverbs 23:4 says, ‘ Labour not to be rich, cease from thine own wisdom.’ Do not spend your whole one lifetime pursuing the riches of the world because riches are temporal that will pass away. It is the wisdom of men to spend their life on issues that are ephemeral in nature at the expense of issues that have eternal values.

 

It is the wisdom of God for you to rather invest your time on issues that have eternal values, which benefit your eternal soul that was created not to die and cannot die but lives on forever. The activities include:

Striving to be among the few that will reach a heaven that is meant for a few (Luke 13:24)

Striving to win the lost for Christ (Philippians 2:16)

Striving to support the weak (Acts 20:35)

Striving to be accepted of God (2 Corinthians 5:9)

Striving to conform to the image of Jesus Christ through the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22)

We have 24 hours in a day. An average man spends 8 hours sleeping and another 8 hours is utilized making a living for the perishing body. How many hours do we have left to attend to activities that determine our eternal destination?  Life is too short; therefore make the best use of the remaining hours as an investment to benefit your life on earth and your eternal soul.

Ayodele Adegbulugbe

Email: ayodeleade2002@yahoo.com

Phone: +2348035978352