Fading flowers

Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. – James 1v9-11

It is obvious that stuff dominates our lives. All of life seems to be a quest for more, better, and newer stuff. Success is measured by how much stuff we can accumulate. The more stuff we have the more we can show off and glory in.

It saddens, and somewhat concerns me, that even God’s people seem obsessed with glorying in what we have. Christians are proud of their new cars, fancy houses, stylish clothes, and latest electronics. I have been a circle of well know preachers who were showing of their suits and bragging about what they cost.

I don’t get this – I really don’t. On the one hand folks say ‘Give me Jesus’ while with the other hand they try to grab as much as they can. The successful Christian has somehow become equated with the rich Christian.

That flies in the face of what God’s word teaches. God’s word says that the poor man can rejoice in being exalted with Christ and the rich man should be humbled by his position with Christ. The ground should be level for believers. The truth is that all that stuff is like a fading flower. It looks great for a while. It is beautiful and catches people’s attention. But soon it is gone – poof – faded away into nothingness.

It is all fading flowers. It really doesn’t matter. It would be nice if we could all, rich and poor, could grasp that concept.