The most recent event to captivate everyone’s attention here in the USA was the occurrence of the moon moving in front of the sun and blocking out light for a few minutes. But this is quickly fading away and attention is on the next event that will captivate people’s fleeting attention span—an “astronomical alignment” on September 23 is just around the corner (Ecclesiastes 1:9-11).

As the total solar eclipse was occurring on August 21, I went outside where I work and noticed all the people around me who had also come out to watch. It made me think of the Scripture where Christ talks about the end of this age and what it will be like. Matthew 24 extensively portrays days in the near future that are going to happen. Verses 29-31 talk about heavenly signs, even more stunning and breathtaking than what just happened.  Not that this recent occurrence and the coming event in September had or will have any relevance for Christ’s Second Coming, but I can just imagine people standing around in awe and fear when the prophesied heavenly signs do start to take place on a global scale.

We can predict when scientific events such as an eclipse are going to occur, but we cannot understand how to bring about peace. There is no end to the amount of physical knowledge that this world is able to produce. We keep inventing greater and greater things, but we cannot stop the inevitable from happening. Genesis 11:6 points out that man is able to accomplish incredible feats, but he is unable to answer or solve any of life’s true questions.

This world hates God, whether it realizes it or not. The false prophet and the beast will soon arise and captivate the nations to accomplish their will.

We are warned NOT to be captivated by Satan’s trickery (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11); rather, we are encouraged to continue loving the Truth and maintaining a close relationship with God (1 John 3:7-10, 19-20). We have heard this time and again, but what are we doing about it? How sure are we that we will be able to keep God’s commandments, statutes and judgments when this tumultuous time comes? Will we be able to stand or will we let other things come between us and God? The answer depends on how we act today, when we have the opportunity and the time to do so (Deuteronomy 8:1-20).

As we continue to watch the world around us implode, we know from Scripture the prophecies of the events which are going to happen. We have to stay captivated with the Truth and have a deep love of it if we wish to finish what we have started (Revelation 1:3; 2:10, 25; 3:11; 16:15; 22:7,12).  Now is the time to consider our ways and become wise, not being distracted and misled by foolish things. Zephaniah’s warning in chapter 1:14 should be a somber realization of what is going to occur in the not-too-distant future: “The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out.”

This week, people traveled to the U.S. from around the world to experience a total eclipse passing over them. Across America, millions of people visited the path of totality—a 60- to 70-mile-wide ribbon of darkness stretching from Oregon to South Carolina.

During the “Great American Eclipse,” schools closed and businesses paused, all to view this rare phenomenon. Beyond the wonder of celestial events like an eclipse, some people reacted to the experience as intensely emotional, calling it breathtaking—even spiritual.

The time elapsing during totality (the moon completely blocking the face of the sun) was about two minutes for people as the eclipse occurred in their location.

There is an inescapable comparison to be made here between chasing darkness and seeking light. In fact, the Bible draws parallels between darkness and light in describing evil and good—falsehood and truth; and in being called out of Satan’s darkness into God’s marvelous light (compare Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 2:9).

Of the darkness of this age, Jesus said, “‘For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed’” (John 3:20). Then, in verse 21, He adds this challenge:

“But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

I have to wonder at the all-out commitment so many people made to view the eclipse and to “experience” the path of totality. This stands in such contrast to the seemingly irreparable division which now floods across our news day after day! It all comes down to the question of what are people really after—what do they truly seek?

There is most certainly a path of totality—spiritual darkness—covering the whole world at this time (Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 5:19). But this powerful darkness is yielding to the light of the coming Kingdom of God (2 Peter 1:19).

Perhaps we can take a lesson from the enthusiasm of the eclipse chasers. Should we not also make every provision to seek the light of God’s Kingdom and to preach the good news in all the world as a witness to all nations?

In July 2017, the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) gave details of their higher earners, those earning over £150,000 a year. They admitted that it had a gender pay problem after their pay list revealed that two-thirds of its highest-paid stars were men. Of the 96 top names earning £150,000 or more, 62 are male and 34 are female.

The Daily Telegraph reported that “The backlash from female presenters has already begun, with one well-known name saying the corporation is stuffed with ‘male “intellectual titans” with egos the size of planets’ who have demanded huge salaries and got them.”

The female response was that they should be paid the same as the men; not one of them suggested that the men’s income should be reduced to their levels!  It never works that way, does it?

I recall, many years ago, in the 1980’s that someone was recruited to the company that I worked for and was paid twice the amount that I was paid, and his region produced about half the business that mine did. It meant, that pro rata, he was being paid almost four times the rate that I was being paid. When I raised this matter, I was told that it was “market forces”, that rate had to be paid to recruit the best people in the business.  Of course, I accepted this as the company paid the salaries and the decision was theirs.  We just got on with it.

I am reminded of the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20.  We read that, early in the morning, the landowner agreed with the labourers on a rate of pay for the day and they went to work with this understanding.  The landowner did this with workers at two other different times of the day and, finally, with another group of workers towards the end of the working day.  They all received the same pay and the first set of workers, who complained about being paid the same as those who were hired late in the day, were told by the landowner that they had agreed with, and accepted, the going rate with him for their labour and they had no grounds for complaint.

We know that this parable has spiritual meaning but I am reflecting on the physical, everyday application in the work place. If this was an approach that employers took today, can you imagine the outrage by the trades unions?

As one writer said about this parable: “We covet what God chooses to give to others. A parable is essentially an elaborate allegory. We are invited to see ourselves in the story, and then apply it to ourselves.”

The outrage of the females who were paid less than the men was based on greed, envy and coveting. If this had not been the case, but just a question of everyone being treated the same financially, then they would surely have suggested reducing the salary of their male counterparts. Where money is concerned, they wanted to take advantage of the pay levels that had been given to others, which showed what they were really concerned about.

There are Scriptures that condemn the attitude of greed, envy and coveting:

Proverbs 15:27:  “He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house…”

Proverbs 14:30: “A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.”

Romans 7:7: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’”

Of course, this is clearly laid out in the 10th Commandment which states: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”  And, may I add, “you shall not covet your colleague’s income!”

It is not easy when confronted by such a situation, as I know personally, but it is a necessity for a Church member. As those involved at the BBC don’t understand the Way of God, it is hardly surprising that their first port of call for guidance on this matter was not the Bible but their own innate human nature. This really comes to the fore when money, position and power are at the centre of the argument.

The good news is that we know the Way of God now and, one day, they will too!

Have we lost our first love? Have our works increased, or are they not perfect before God? Do we persevere and labor, or have we become weary? Are we zealous for God and His Way, willing to overcome and to repent of what may be wrong in our lives? Or have we become lukewarm?

The Bible uses the term “lukewarm” only once, in Revelation 3:16, where Christ addresses the Church of the Laodiceans. The Greek word, “chliaros,” describes someone who is somewhat warm, but not hot. It refers to “the self-sufficient and complacent security of a traditional faith” (Fritz Rienecker, Lexikon zur Bibel).  The Nelson Study Bible agrees, adding that Christ “rejects the halfhearted efforts of self-satisfied Christians.”

God requires zeal, dedication, commitment, vigor and perseverance until the end. We are to love Him with all our heart, mind and soul. Our life must be in total service to Christ who bought us with His precious blood so that we do not belong to ourselves.

In our booklet, “Is That in the Bible? The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation“, we quote Lehmann Strauss as follows: “… the Lord is saying to those at Laodicea that if, instead of being lukewarm, they were so cold as to feel the bitterness and severity of that coldness, they would flee to the true warmth of refuge. If we are really cold, and admit to the fact, our confession will lead to the removal of our sin… The Greek word for ‘hot’ … means ‘boiling hot’… the members in the church at Laodicea were not boiling hot; they were not ardent Christians. They had no enthusiasm, no emotion, no zeal, no urgency. It is possible to have a large measure of doctrinal correctness without the fire of spiritual fervor and affection…”

We also point out in our booklet that “all in God’s Church must remain, or must become zealous, and they must repent… in order to be accounted worthy of escaping the terrible times ahead, and to stand before the Son of God when He returns (Luke 21:36).”

The Bible predicts an end-time falling away of true Christians from the Truth. We read that many will fall away (Matthew 24:10, Revised Standard Version). They will engage in works of unrighteousness so that the love of God within them will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). We must all be on guard, eradicating any temptation of wanting to give up and depart from God’s Way of Life while seeking pleasure in the affairs of this world. This can easily happen when we become “lukewarm”—when we become “too familiar” with what we are supposed to be doing, because familiarity may breed contempt.

In Malachi 1:13, God describes Laodiceans as saying about our dedication to God: “Oh, what a weariness!” (Compare also Isaiah 43:22). Rather than zealously pursuing what is right and good, they become guilty of offering “what is blemished” (Malachi 1:14); they depart from the Way and stumble at the Law (2:8); they engage in prohibited marriage relationships and divorce for unbiblical reasons (2:11, 14-16); and they rob God by neglecting or refusing to pay God’s tithes and give Him offerings (3:8). This attitude leads to a most serious condition of some of God’s people who say: “It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we walked as mourners Before the LORD of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed…” (3:14-15).

We must not allow this kind of attitude to enter our lives. Have we been lacking in prayer, Bible study or Church attendance? Have we considered these commanded activities as weariness and as not being that important, instead of being deeply convinced of their necessity for our spiritual survival and growth? Have we become self-righteous and do we feel content with our spiritual condition instead of being willing to humble ourselves and to increase in the knowledge of Christ? Have we stumbled at the Law and engaged in conduct which God condemns? Are we slowly casting away our confidence and drawing back and drifting away (Hebrews 10:35-38)? If so, then the time to reflect and change is now! Christ tells us: “Be zealous and repent.” He is standing at the door. Let us open the door and let Him come in to take full control of our lives.

When filling a jar with ping pong balls, it can be considered to be full when no more balls can fit into the jar. However, all of the space between the balls inside the jar can also be filled. By adding plastic beads to the jar, even more stuff will fit into the open space. Likewise, adding sand will fill the space remaining in the jar that the beads do not take up. Finally, adding water to the jar will fill in all of the last remaining air space, until no more stuff can fit. This illustrates how available capacity can be filled, even when it might appear to be full.

By adding things to the jar in order from largest to smallest, we can see that the space is consumed very efficiently. However, when adding the same quantity of the items in reverse order, the result is much different. If water, sand, and plastic beads are added to the jar in that order, there will not be enough room to add all of the larger ping pong balls. The way that we choose to fill available space has a significant impact on the result.

This phenomenon has a parallel in the way that we choose to use our time. The sand and the plastic beads are analogous to activities in our lives that don’t contribute very much to our well-being, but consume our time – such as watching a show on TV, surfing the web, mowing the lawn, or doing the dishes. There’s nothing inherently wrong with these activities, and some of them are even necessary, but they probably don’t provide meaning in our lives or help us to grow. The ping pong balls are analogous to the large, important goals in our lives, such as our spiritual conversion, expressing love for our brethren and neighbors, and other virtuous life-goals. If we choose to fill our day with little things that are less significant and relatively unimportant in our lives, we will not have enough time to do the things that matter the most. The big, important, worthy goals in our lives need to receive the greatest priority to make sure that we have enough capacity in our lives to accomplish them. If we prioritize our activities in the right order, we will have enough space to be fulfilled, and have enough space remaining for the little trivial activities too.

The challenge, of course, is that the little things are generally much easier to do than the big, important things. If we want to use our time in the best possible way, the best place to start is with making a distinction between the big things and the little things in our lives. In his letter to Timothy, Paul provides some guidance to help him in making such a distinction, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). Timothy is reminded that seeking godliness is one of the big things, and that it is worthy of a commensurate amount of attention. Bodily exercise is still a good thing, but compared to the activity of practicing godliness, it is less important. If we want to accomplish things that are meaningful and spiritually fulfilling, we are responsible to become conscious of where activities reside on the spectrum of importance.

Once we are aware of activities that are truly important, we can begin to shift our attention to doing those activities first. Following his instruction to Timothy to focus on seeking godly growth, Paul continues to guide him in prioritizing his time, “… be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all” (1 Timothy 4:12-15). Timothy is encouraged to grow and make progress! The prescription involves dedicating time, attention, and focused thought in the study of Scripture and conduct in godly love. The corollary to this instruction is to prioritize other activities to follow the more important ones that lead to spiritual growth. These are instructions that we need to take to heart as well. To do anything less is to risk neglect of the development of righteous conduct and spiritual understanding that is expected of us.

It is helpful to consider that time is one of our most valuable assets. By thinking this way, every activity that we give our attention to becomes an opportunity to invest in the fulfillment of the ultimate goal that all Christians share – to overcome sin, and live eternally in the Family of God. If we expect to overcome the sin that threatens us, and to grow in righteousness through the help of Jesus Christ, we need to consciously dedicate our time to activities that contribute to these results. The formula for fulfillment involves putting a stop to “majoring in the minors,” and dedicating the best portions of our time to nurturing the growth of the fruit of the Spirit (compare Galatians 5:22-25

In my formative years I spent many summers in Orr, Minnesota. Some of my earliest memories during that time included fishing.  My biggest fishing concern as a child was keeping hold of the rod when something was on it and making sure worms were secured to my hook.

It is not always enough to simply throw a lure out and assume you will get a bite on retrieval.  Are you fishing in muddy or clear water, in cloudy or sunny conditions?  Are you in shallow weed banks or deep rocky ledges?

The environmental conditions in our physical or spiritual life must be considered with care.  Christ lived a balanced life and expects us to do the same.  He understood when to speak and when to remain silent, when to preach of the Father’s love and when to sternly correct.  Christ noted an extremely important aspect of this calling, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).  We must act upon this command on a daily basis, continually professing godliness. But this should not lead us into an attitude that by merely spouting off Christian platitudes, we fulfill our commitment to God.

Christ saw four men fishing and knew they would fulfill His plans to do even more.  “And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.’ So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him” (Luke 5:9-11). They proved their love for Christ by walking away from everything.  We prove our own commitment to God by doing the same in our daily lives. But we must not walk in this light of Truth unprepared.  Christ later told His disciples, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Paul tailored his “fishing” to the mindset of those around him.  When speaking to the Athenians at the Areopagus (see Acts 17), he used the conditions around him to prove God’s Truth. Because God inspired Paul in this manner, some were called out of that pagan society.

We are warned that this Truth is precious, and how we profess this understanding to others should display that carefulness.  Christ stated, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces” (Matthew 7:6). We can become better fishermen by taking the time to understand those around us—people before whom we are representatives of Jesus Christ. In doing so, we can be part of this glorious work of building the Family of God.

Roads are important as they lead us from one place to another, and there are many types of roads with different purposes and conditions.  We depend on roads to travel on daily, to get us from here to there.  But with all the roads that we count to reach our destination, how are we doing on our spiritual road?  We chose to go down a specific road, a road that will hopefully lead us in the right direction.  This is no ordinary road but one that contains many hazardous conditions—perhaps some detours and delays—and it is not an easy road to travel. Only a SELECT FEW will travel on this road.

Matthew 7:13-14 starts off by giving us a choice – we can either select the narrow way or the wide way.  When we have reached a fork in the road, which one do we take?  To put it into perspective, one road looks more appealing than the other, at first glance. The “left” road looks very attractive, tempting, enticing, and the majority would choose to take it full speed ahead, but they fail to see the trap that is set before them as it will ultimately lead to a dead end.  The road on the “right” looks less appealing, not to mention incredibly narrow requiring a considerable uphill effort as far as the physical eye can see, which may fail to realize where the road ends – far from death.  What choice will we make?  Many will choose the “left” way, but we must choose the “right” way.  Remember how Lot chose wrongly when he saw how “appealing” Sodom and Gomorrah looked in Genesis 13?

Focusing on our own road and the challenges we must go through to travel on it, we can see that, on occasion, the road can be quite hazardous and we need to be cautious at all times, pay attention by not letting distractions get in the way, watch what we are doing, and watch out for what lies ahead so we are prepared.  To elaborate on this analogy, there may be times when we may come across a road block.  This happens quite often where we face a condition in our path and get stuck, but it is only a delay. As a result, we need to find an alternate route, such as a detour, which still leads in the right direction.  We have to be careful that we don’t drift off course, meaning we must obey the signs and not try to put matters into our own hands, like finding a short cut that could lead us right into a “lake” if we’re not careful. We must realize our mistakes, as we are still human, and get back on track and find the connector that leads us right back onto the main road we are traveling.

The road of the world is difficult to avoid, that road on the “left,” as it will from time to time travel parallel with our road, and we have to make sure that it does not intersect, giving us an easy pathway to enter the wrong way!  There will be many opportunities and temptations along the way—wrong signs that we must ignore and warning signs that we must heed—if we want to reach our final destination.  We must be aware of U-turns as we are traveling on a one-way street.  We need to avoid going back into the world as we have come out of it.

Isaiah 35:8 talks about this road in the future, the road that we are presently on, which will become a Highway of Holiness—a road to Jerusalem, to Christ—and the time will come when everyone will have that chance to travel that road. The New American Standard Bible translates it as: “A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it.”  The unclean shall not pass over it, referring to those who choose not to be clean, who do not want to go the Way of Christ, but it shall be for others – those who want to live righteously, those who were blind and now can see, who were deaf and now can hear.

This is why we have chosen this road. We are still traveling on it and we will eventually reach our final destination and enter the narrow gate IF we remain focused, fruitful and faithful (Luke 13:24).

We find in the book of Revelation a statement in regard to perseverance. In Revelation 3:10, Christ is quoted as telling the Church in Philadelphia: “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

Other translations word it in this way:

“Because thou didst keep the word of my endurance, I also will keep thee from the hour of the trial that is about to come upon all the world, to try those dwelling upon the earth” (Young’s Literal Translation).

“Because you have obeyed my command to endure, I will keep you from the hour of testing that is coming to the whole world to test those living on the earth” (International Standard Version).

Notice, this is not just a suggestion, but rather a command.

The definition of “persevere” is to “continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.” For example, we may read that “his family persevered with his treatment.”

Synonyms for “persevere” are “persist, continue, carry on, go on, keep on, keep going, struggle on, hammer away, be persistent, be determined, see/follow something through, keep at it, press on/ahead, not take no for an answer, be tenacious, stand one’s ground, stand fast/firm, hold on, go the distance, stay the course, plod on, stop at nothing, leave no stone unturned.”

This important character trait must be active at the current time. We must be tenacious so that we can obtain what God has destined for us—eternal life in His Kingdom as His sons and daughters.

It is also emphasized that we need to persevere so that we can be protected from the great tribulation which shall come upon the whole earth.

It is not just a matter of hanging on to our dear physical life in a state of fear, but rather being engaged in the process of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God to this world, even as we face more and more pressure from misguided governments, increased persecution and even martyrdom for some of God’s children.

The end of this present evil age will not come until our commission has been accomplished, according to God’s evaluation. Matthew 24:14 tells us: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

In the meantime, we are strongly admonished to put our shoulders to the plow with perseverance, to bring us to that point in time when the Kingdom can be established under a just and equitable rulership.

Let us ensure to persevere to that end.

In 1776 the United States obtained independence from England. As was prophesied in the Bible, Manasseh became an incredible nation that has flourished by the grace of God. While America just celebrated its “Independence Day” on the 4th of July, there is something that we should remember and bring to mind.

The American Revolution, as it was called, was a revolt from a system of government, but was traded for another form of government. The term “revolution” is defined by dictionary.com as follows:

“An overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.”

This type of revolution that occurred many years ago was not the first time something like this had happened. In fact, the first “revolution” that ever occurred was when Satan decided to go his own way and attempt to fight with and throw God off His throne in heaven. Isaiah 14:12-17 vividly paints this picture. Not only did he decide to revolt, but he caused a third of the angels to follow in this revolution (Revelation 12:4). Satan has inspired and operated in this way by using man ever since (Ephesians 2:2).

An interesting episode of Satan’s handiwork in progress can be seen in 1 Samuel 8:4-22, where we find that Israel wished for a king to rule over them and lead them into battle, similar to the other nations around them. And even after Samuel’s great warning of what a king would do, they still desired to have a king. Interestingly, in verse 7, we find God’s answer to Samuel about the people’s desire: “..for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”

The people no longer wanted God to rule over them. And is this not the same today? We find prophecies in the Bible that speak about the very days we find ourselves living in.

Let us review a few more Scriptures and ask ourselves, in looking at the world as a whole, if they do not describe what we see today. We are told that knowledge shall increase (Daniel 12:4), but this worldly knowledge cannot really help or save mankind. In Isaiah 59:7-9 we read a sad plight of these people who increase in knowledge but cannot and do not know the way to peace because their paths are darkened. 2 Timothy 4:3 describes people with itching ears, always looking for something new to help them. Isaiah 30:10 talks of those people who just want to hear smooth things and not the hard facts and the Truth. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 warns that acts of rebellion against God will lead to terrible times in the last days (those days that will occur before the return of Christ).

The day of a revolution is once again coming. The Church of the Eternal God and its international affiliates continue to exhort and warn that the downfall of America; Great Britain and certain countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly known as the British Commonwealth, including Canada, Australia and others; and of the state of Israel is at hand. We see that God has removed His protection and His blessings from our nations because of the aforementioned Scriptures and the refusal to repent of sins. This has all been scripted out and prophesied about in the Bible because God knows man’s tendencies and He has designed His master plan in this way.

We will see the FINAL revolution with the return of Jesus Christ who will establish a government that is spiritual, righteous and pure. There will no longer be chaotic, maniacal human governments which are ruled by Satan, having caused serious pain, turmoil and agony for countless people. Instead, as we read in the 21st chapter of the Book of Revelation, a time will be ushered in which will be unprecedented in man’s history. That will be the true Independence Day for all of mankind.

The stock market in the United States has performed very well so far this year. Record-high closing values have occurred several times already, boosting the confidence of investors throughout the country. When using these financial measures, it might be tempting for society at large to be optimistic about the future. Certainly, affluence abounds in this age, making it difficult to convince the world about the dire state that it is actually in and the devastating future ahead of us.

With the passing financial success of Wall Street in mind, it is worth considering a prognosis that David wrote thousands of years ago, which applies very well to those of us living now: “Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap.  Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually” (Psalm 69:22-23). The material wealth and abundance of this age will undoubtedly cause many to stumble. In fact, the apparent good things might become a curse, as pronounced here.

We must of course make sound financial decisions, and it is not wrong to become wealthy, as long as we have and maintain the right priorities (1 Timothy 6:17-18; Proverbs 10:22; Jeremiah 9:23-24). However, what is particularly daunting is that the very things that are accumulated to prevent destruction might become the cause! The comforts that offer security could make false promises. Material abundance, money, weapons, stockpiles, and political power are a trap and a snare because they might deceive people into believing that nothing is wrong. Even more, these worldly assets may lead the possessors to believe that life is good and things are going quite well. However, the Bible is clear that man will not be able to save himself with his own might (Psalm 33:16) and that riches are only temporary (Ezekiel 7:19). The comfort of life’s vanities will only divert attention from the Truth, making matters worse. Many in the world will be very late realizing the error of placing their trust in man, rather than God.

There is a warning provided in the Bible: “… let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).  While it might be easy to apply this to others, we must realize that it applies to each and every one of us as well. Unless we live in complete isolation, it is nearly impossible to escape the influence of our age.  We have comforts and abundance now, more than at any other time in the history of mankind. Because of this, we too are exposed to the trap of well-being, and the snare of a well-stocked table. However, it is our choice about how to react. Will we allow the cares of this world to choke the Word of God so that it does not take root (compare Matthew 13:22), or will we turn away from relying on the world’s offerings, and seek safety in the hands of God?