Hello beloved creatures of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace.
Today in Salvation 101 we’ll talk about the vanity and unsatisfying nature of all earthly good. Let’s start with Scriptures.
If you’ve not read the previous posts I invite you to check them out here
1. Too Busy For God
In the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14: 15-24 we have the story of people who were invited to the great banquet but who refused to attend by making up excuses.
Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
Luke 14:15-24 NKJV
This great banquet can be assimilated to the fact that God wants all to be saved, as such He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, so that those who believe in Him might have everlasting life. On the third day He rose again, and He is seated at the right hand of The Father and till today He invites people to surrender their lives to Him in order to be saved from eternal separation from God.
Some people receive this invitation to make Jesus their Lord through reading their Bibles, others hear their parents, friends, siblings, pastors and different men and women of God preach the Gospel to them, others read about Jesus on blogs like this one, others dream about Him, others watch videos on social media in which they’re invited to follow Jesus. Some people say yes to that call, and others say no.
They may have different reasons for refusing Jesus as Lord, but some refuse to accept Him as Lord because they think they’re too busy for God, trying to find their joy, peace, hope and satisfaction through earthly goods and pleasures.
- Some people believe that they’re too busy with their jobs or studies, so they can’t find time for Jesus.
- Some are too busy trying to earn more and more money that they don’t surrender their lives to Jesus, they think they can do it later in life
- Some are too busy running from one romantic relationship to another, sinning against God and trying to find fulfillment in sexual immorality, thinking that later on they can give their lives to Jesus
- Some are so focused on getting married, or raising their kids, or acquiring new pieces of land that they forget about Jesus or they don’t even surrender their lives to Him at all
Truth being told, if your love is set on those things there will always be more of them to seek for on this earth. More money, more relationships, more earthly satisfaction, more goods, but you will never be fully satisfied by any of those things, and even if you acquire all of them, your appetite for them may never decrease and you may end this life without having surrendered yourself to Jesus Christ. The consequence will ultimately be eternal separation from God, which we generally call hell.
I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 NKJV
He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 NKJV
Many people failed to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour and are in hell today because they got so choked up with the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches that they failed to live their lives for Christ.
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
Matthew 13:3-7, 22 NKJV
2. Prepare For Eternity
Instead of being focused on accumulating more wealth, more food, more popularity, being trendy and fashion, instead of putting all your heart and attention on the riches of the present world, start preparing for eternity.
As previously explained, you are a spirit, you have a soul and a body. Once your physical body (flesh) dies you (spirit and soul) keep existing forever. The real question is where will you spend eternity?
If you’d been so focused on accumulating earthly goods, and you’ve never surrendered all that you are (spirit, soul and body) and all that you have (including your earthly goods) to Jesus Christ, then where will you go when your physical body dies?
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV
I’m not trying to convince you to start living in the streets and to quit a decent job to enter Heaven. Don’t think that you can earn eternal life by your good works. However, you have to understand that you can only have eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ and surrendering your entire life to Him. This will imply that He is at the center of your life. Thus, money, land, marriage etc. will not be your gods/idols anymore. Everything you’ll have you’ll first present it to your Lord, your Master and ask Him “Lord what do we do with this?”, nothing will stand in between you and God, not even your job, not even your sources of income, not even your spouse.
Meaning for example that:
- If you’re asked to choose between going to a witchdoctor to help you earn more money and trusting God for your finances, you will choose to trust God in The Name of Jesus.
- If your fiance(e) says they won’t marry you unless you have sex out of wedlock you’ll abandon that marriage project because Jesus Christ comes first in your life
- If your boss tells you they need you to lie and steal to keep your job you’ll refuse because you serve Jesus and you’ll prefer losing that job
- If you have a new opportunity to get financially independent but that opportunity implies sinning against God you’ll say no to it and trust God to make a way for you
- If your friends like to dress trendy and immoral and you think that in order to maintain your popularity on social media you have to start dressing indecently, you’ll prefer losing friends and followers rather than dishonouring Jesus
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NKJV
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:31-34 NKJV
The decision you’re called to make today is to put Jesus first in your life, to make Him the centre of your life, not money, not fashion, not marriage, not earthly goods, not land, not houses, but Him, only Him.
Are you ready to make this decision today? Tomorrow may be too late.
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:16-21 NKJV
Decide today, we’re talking about your eternity. Where will you spend eternity? Will you choose Jesus today and submit yourself to Him and spend eternity with Him, or will you choose the devil, love of money, drugs, sex, alcohol and earthly goods so as to spend eternity separated from God, eternity in hell?
Choose today whom you shall serve, choose and do NOT look back.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 6:24 NKJV
Prayer To Surrender Your Life To Jesus Christ
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I make the decision today to turn from my sins and I invite You to come into my life. I surrender myself completely to You Lord, spirit, soul and body. I choose today to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour. Everything that I have, I surrender it to You completely, it is not mine anymore, it is Yours. I choose to obey You. Amen
Weekly Prayer Meeting
I would like to announce that every Saturday from 11:00-11:40 PM (GMT+1) I host a prayer meeting on Zoom (online) to pray for the salvation of our loved ones, our friends and acquaintances etc and to minister healing to the sick. You can join and invite others to join with you, believers as well as unbelievers. You can click on the link here to register for the event.
Looking for a Church?
I can recommend to you Dominion Life Church with General Overseer Apostle Curry Blake. In case there is no campus near you, you can watch online every Sunday at 3:00 PM (GMT +1) for first service and 4:00 PM (GMT +1) for second service
God bless you and contact me on social media for your prayer requests and also to share about your story/testimony with Jesus.
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