Start of a new week. The week just after Easter (April 5 2021), and I hope that Easter gave you a boost en reminder of what Christ did for us.

Here is the text:

1 Timothy 6:7, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.“

Interesting points:
1. In this verse Paul underlines (Old Testament) Scripture that Timothy would have recognized concerning the amassing of large treasure on earth: wealth provides us no benefit in the afterlife.

2. This verse echoes what Job said and what Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes. After Job received the terrible news that all his sons and daughters were killed when the house of the eldest son collapsed on them, he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21) whereas Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 5:15, “Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.”

3. In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus tells us, “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 treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” This does not mean that we should see wealth as evil or avoid prosperity, but it means that these things will not bring us either everlasting joy or any spiritual benefit any more than an entire toolkit full of hammers! Money is a tool, and just like any workman on a worksite, we will not be judged on how many tools we own but on how well we accomplished God’s purpose for us wielding the tools He gave us!

Application.
Brothers, some gather huge fortunes knowing that they cannot take their material wealth or fat bank accounts with them into eternity. They argue that they will leave an inheritance behind for their heirs. As good as that may be, more than a few will have failed to instill in their heirs a righteous / spiritual legacy and though they themselves may be able to enter Heaven by Jesus’ righteousness, their heirs – the earthly treasure they should have prized and taught to fear the Lord -- may have learned the wrong life lessons to wander away from God’s path of righteousness.

May we learn to chase after the right things in life even as God’s blessings rain upon us: God’s own heart, His wisdom, righteousness, building a spiritual legacy of building His Kingdom and glorifying our Lord in all we say and do!