What is wealth?
James 1:11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
The thing about studying James is that there’s not much room for postulating and pontificating. He gets right to the point.
As noted yesterday, a homeless person can be just as rich as a wealthy person. In my ambulance days, we typically treated homeless patients on the spot. If they had a shopping cart full of “wealth” only rarely would they go to the hospital. Their world was inside of that cart.
Illustration:
A benevolent rich man died. Meeting St Peter at the gates, he said “On earth, I was very rich and very benevolent, giving to the poor, building hospitals and tithing faithfully. Can’t I bring a little something with me to Heaven?
Peter thought a moment and offered: This is a strange request but since you were, in deed, a faithful rich man, I’ll let you in with ONE suitcase.
To get the most value, the man packed his suitcase with gold bars, as many as he could get into it. He was amazed that, as a spirit, he was even able to carry it.
Back at the gate, Peter, seeing the suitcase, asked the man: So, let’s see what you brought.
The man opened his case, the gold bars gleaming in Heavenly illumination.
Peter broke out with a thunderous belly laugh!
He said, You could have brought anything you wanted! You brought a suitcase full of PAVEMENT!!
Father, You are the source of our manna. We trust You to provide what we need every day. We know that Your manna will be sufficient for each day. We know that if we put our faith in manna, it will spoil. Father, we put our faith in You!