6: 24-26 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.”
“What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you.”
“What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.”
“What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets.”
Jesus gave warnings to those who were filled with pride. For those who focus on the things of this world – material items, money, food, good times, and the desire to be praised by others, to enjoy all this now because they will have the opposite once they pass from this world. For those who focus on others and help those in need, they will prosper after they die.
Although this sounded great to me as I have always had a very strong desire to help others, I realized after reading and studying the life of Jesus and what he taught, that I had it all wrong. Yes, I had a very strong desire to help others, and I thought that I was good with God and didn’t need to worry about all the Christian stuff. When I evaluated where the desire to help others came from, it came from my own hurt and pain. I realized that I could not give out what I did not have. That was an eye opener for me! If that was not bad enough for my ego, I then took the statements above to mean that having money, enough food to eat, enjoying life and having others praise you was a bad thing. It seemed to me from my initial reading that Jesus wanted people to live poor in order to be prosperous after they die.
It took me awhile to understand that Jesus is not against financial prosperity, or even enjoying material items, and he is certainly not against having fun or being praised. It’s how we value money and material items. What are we doing with the financial prosperity when it comes our way? Are we so wrapped up in trying to get to or maintain a certain financial status that we overlook the needs of others? It’s the why behind having fun and being praised by others. Do we crave attention from others as a way to place value on ourselves? It all comes down to what’s in our heart as that will be expressed through our thoughts, actions, and decisions – and that is what is felt by others.