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Friday, November 2nd (Day Nineteen)

Read:
1 Timothy 6:6-19

"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides everything to enjoy."

Reflect:
In 2005, two hurricanes in our region of the country cost thousands of people everything they owned. Many of the people never believed for a second that such a tragedy would befall them. They were unprepared - not in terms of having an evacuation plan or plywood for their windows - but in their hearts. They had set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, and the riches were taken away.

Nothing seems as certain to us as the material things we possess. We can see our house from the curb. We can smell the interior of our cars as we slide into them. We can feel our soft sheets when we crawl under them. We can taste fine food. And it is not improper to do so. Paul is explicit in this passage that God "provides us with everything to enjoy."

No, having these things is not improper; setting our hopes on them is. God is our only hope. He has given us all things, and the reality of the matter is that he can take all things away. The alternative to setting our hopes on the uncertainty of riches, then, is to hold on to them loosely - to be "generous and ready to share." If we hold on to Christ alone as our hope, we really aren't giving up very much when we give up our treasures. Rather, we are gaining "a good foundation for the future, so that [we] may take hold of that which is truly life."

Apply:

1. Have you ever had an expensive material possession that you truly loved taken away from you? How did you feel when this happened and why?
2. How does putting your hope in God allow you to be generous with your treasures? How does your level of generosity provide a barometer for where your hope lies?

Pray:

1. That the Lord would keep you from setting your hope on your riches and strengthen you to set your hope on him alone.
2. That the Lord would use Christ the King Presbyterian Church as an instrument of his grace to encourage many people to set their hope on God alone.