Text: "Wealth is not profitable on a day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death." - Proverbs 11:4
It was an interesting conversation. My friend had the best of intentions and was pressing me to take better care of myself and to make more effort to prepare for retirement. I told him that we were not flush, but not lacking and were comfortable in the Lord's care. He pressed me with quite a bit more passion and I told him that I had buried a lot of people and noticed that they lived, lived, lived and then passed away. Some quickly without much notice and others may have a prolonged period with two pairs of pyjamas and a nurse at their side. He knew that I was not being rude, but was making a point that we should not place an undo emphasis on the security that money offers.
In a similar fashion, todays' text is a reminder that the abundance of valuable material possessions or resources is not adequate to secure eternity. There "is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved'(Acts 4:12) other than the name of Jesus. According to Romans 3:22, "the righteous ness of God is gifted "to all who believe" and personally accept Christ as the atoning sacrifice for their sins. "Accepted in the Beloved"(Ephesians 1:6), we are "delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins"(Colossians 1:13,14).
In the judgment, our "filthy rags" of righteousness is replaced by the gifted righteousness of Christ, whose sinless life covers us. As our Advocate(1 John 2:1), Jesus declares that His substitutionary death on Calvary met the demands of God's broken Law and that we are "...justified freely by His grace through the redemption" that He purchased for us as our Saviour(Romans 3:24).
For myself, this realization has freed me to pursue excellence in every area of my life, in the strength of God's partnership and will. He who gifted life to me knows how to best bring me joy and purpose. He who sustains me is more than able to lead me, guide me and enable me to experience fullness in the purest of terms, socially, intellectually, physically and spiritually.
Moreover, my decision to surrender myself to Jesus, as Saviour and Lord, honours God who Himself "demonstrates at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus"(Romans 3:26).
The day of wrath, biblically is the day when God's judgement against sin is executed. It is not retributory punishment or divine chastisement, but the consequence of our personal choice regarding the claims of Christ upon our lives. It makes sense to me, that if we reject the One in whom"we live and move and have our being"(Acts 17:28), then we default to an absence of life, or eternal death.
This need not be so, as "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us"(Romans 5:8). "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved"(John 3:16,17). Clearly, "God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"(1 Timothy 2:4).
So place your faith in God and find the security you desire in His faithfulness. He who calls you to an "abundant life" in Christ(John 10:10) is able to "complete the good work" He starts in you(Philippians 1:6).
Rest in His care today. " ...we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose"(Romans 8:28). May God bless you as you continue to choose to understand and to seek His will.