Often times we dig ourselves into the miseries of life by our pursuit of worldly pleasures and securities. We do not realize it until we are engulfed in its vicious fury. Sadly many do not realize it all. They blame their problems on past relationships, go figure…needing more money, and ‘rainy day’ planning but we are deceived in our thinking.
Throughout the Word we are warned of the dangers of pursuing wealth, yet and still we do it any. We justify it under stewardship & plans to do things for Christ but could we not locate more practical ways to serve others and serve the Kingdom. Habakkuk 2:5, tells us that “Wealth is treacherous…”, that is a very strong statement and goes against anything the world would have us to believe.
How can we stay clear of this temptation? How can we avoid being the greedy? We have to re-train our minds in the Word. Make our pursuits of service to God and dying to self. Honestly seek to please Him. Seek His guidance. Better yet, do the opposite of what the world is doing.
What would life be like if we truly relied on God? What if we all had the same amount of money and our needs where already met? What would we do? What would we pursue? What would be our purpose? This must have been what the Garden of Eden was like. Just chill! Free to just be! With this in mind, your heart should yearn for the coming of Christ. Your soul should yearn to save the souls of the lost so they too can join you in the mission to save others.
Our most intense pursuit should be our seeking after Christ. When our souls prosper then shall we.
See Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Habakkuk 2:
The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, are the entangling snares of men; and we find him that led Israel captive, himself led captive by each of these. No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours, than what we come honestly by. Riches are but clay, thick clay; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth? Those who travel through thick clay, are
hindered and dirtied in their journey; so are those who go through the world in the midst of abundance of wealth. And what fools are those that burden themselves with continual care about it; with a great deal of guilt in getting, saving, and spending it, and with a heavy account which they must give another day! They overload themselves with this thick clay, and so sink themselves down into destruction and perdition. See what will be the end hereof; what is gotten by violence from others,
others shall take away by violence. Covetousness brings disquiet and uneasiness into a family; he that is greedy of gain troubles his own house; what is worse, it brings the curse of God upon all the affairs of it. There is a lawful gain, which, by the blessing of God, may be a comfort to a house; but what is got by fraud and injustice, will bring poverty and ruin upon a family. Yet that is not the worst; Thou hast sinned against thine own soul, hast endangered it. Those who wrong their
neighbours, do much greater wrong to their own souls. If the sinner thinks he has managed his frauds and violence with art and contrivance, the riches and possessions he heaped together will witness against him. There are not greater drudges in the world than those who are slaves to mere worldly pursuits. And what comes of it? They find themselves disappointed of it, and disappointed in it; they will own it is worse than vanity, it is vexation of spirit. By staining and sinking earthly glory,
God manifests and magnifies his own glory, and fills the earth with the knowledge of it, as plentifully as waters cover the sea, which are deep, and spread far and wide. (Hab 2:15-20)
