Hey Gang: Do you
remember when a million dollars was key to be admitted into the "Knob Hill
Gang"? Today millionaires are listed
as the upper level of the middle class and, in most cases, it is because my
generation was very insurance conscience and purchased large insurance policies. Perhaps that is where we get the saying, "I
am worth more dead than alive".
Today, entry into the elite, wealthy domain, requires
billions and each year that number increases substantially. I recently read that a sheik from the Middle
East may be the richest man in the world.
It is further said that he really has no comprehension of how much he is
really worth, but has but is estimated to be well over twenty-five billion
dollars. The drift of the article was
that this gentlemen literally spends millions of dollars for hit men that
surround him, even when while he sleeps, because of his deep fear that someone
is going to snuff him out and take his loot.
I wonder if any of these financial guru's ever think of the
number of babies that died today because of lack of food? Or how many were infected with disease because
of lack of clean water? I wonder how
many babies can be fed with one ton of wheat or corn, or how many wells can be
put down for a million dollars? That
would be like the crumbs in the story of the woman who asked Jesus if she could
just sweep up the crumbs that had fallen from the table.
I wonder, what would happen if all of the world leaders
would suddenly wake up and realize what Jesus really meant when He said, "To those who are given much, much is
expected". I wonder, if the
following words were to appear on the walls of the Houses of Congress, "God has numbered your kingdom and
put an end to it, you have been weighed on the scales and found deficit" (Dan.
5:25-27), would it make the Wall Street Journal. Perhaps on the nineteenth page in very small
print.
Recently, our Pastor began his sermon by trying to wake up
the pew sitters; His first words were
"prosperity can be dangerous". That certainly is not the American way. We once measured success by ‘how many toys’
we had but, in recent years, that has changed to ‘how many people we can buy in
the Belt Way’ and protect our turf. I
heard recently success in politics is not how popular you are among the voters but
how successful they are in their
campaign to destroy the reputation of their opponent.
I have debated as to whether I should send this to the
"Hey Gang" folks, and admit I sat on it for a couple weeks. Not that I mind waking up folks, God said to
Isaiah "Whom shall I send, and who
will go for us?" Then I (Isaiah)
said, here am I, Send me! (Isa. 6:8).
I would be saddened, indeed, if I did not share something with you that
I felt God was impressing on my heart.
Soooo, my friends, I close with Moses words: "Beware that you do not forget the Lord
your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes
which I am commanding you today" (Deut. 8:11). "It shall come about if you ever
forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship
them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish" (Deut.
8:19).
Blessings,
Gramps
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