Sinfully Living for Self
By David J. Stewart
Sadly,
so many people selfishly live
this earthly life for themselves, only thinking about their own comfort...
Luke 12:19-21, “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
God says that a person who lays up earthly treasures is a fool. You can't take any of it with you when you pass into eternity. It is foolish to work so hard toward something that cannot go with us beyond the grave. We hear so much talk these days about buying silver and gold to hedge against the falling dollar. I couldn't care less about what the dollar does. You can have all the silver and gold in the world. It means nothing to me that some men can afford $3,000 suits, knowing that those men will be paupers in eternity, and most of them are bound for Hell in their sins without Jesus Christ.
I'm going to continue witnessing to lost sinners with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, giving out Bibles and living for Jesus. I'm going to spend my time laboring for the Lord, laying up treasures in Heaven as the Lord commanded (Matthew 6:20). We can take souls with us into eternity. We can take changed lives for the Lord with us into eternity. God will reward us for our labors for Him (1st Corinthians 3:8). God will reward us for helping the poor in Jesus' name. The least saint in Heaven will be far greater than the greatest man on earth (Matthew 11:11).
So many professed believers are selfish, only thinking about themselves and what's best for them. They may say a good word or two about God; but they are worldly, carnally-minded and idle for Jesus Christ. God doesn't want believers to be fence-straddlers. In fact, God says He will vomit them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:15-16). Luke-warm believers make God sick. God wants us hot or cold, in or out, on or off.
The average believer is playing church. What are you doing to reach lost sinners with the Gospel? Most believers never do anything other than fill 18" of pew every Sunday and slander other people. A slanderous church is the result of a pastor who doesn't preach against the evils of gossip and slander. Most churches are gossip centers of self-righteous hypocrisy.
As born-again believers, God will reward us individually according to our own works. Some believers will receive no rewards in Heaven (1st Corinthians 3:15). In view of eternity, may we all commit the remainder of our earthly lives to serving God, winning lost souls to Jesus Christ, helping the poor in Jesus' name and pleasing our heavenly Father.
