Have We Lost Our Minds?

Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill, you will be taken captive. [Jeremiah 48.7a]

There is much more to this story than this sentence found in Jeremiah 48. However, there is something we might learn about God in the words He speaks to Moab here.

It is not ironic that Moab's god, Chemosh, was very much about military strength. Military strength, then, as it is now, is very much about wealth and skill. It is not surprising then that Jeremiah, speaking for God, pens the verse above.

God will have His people depend on nothing or no one other than Him. True, God gives great irresistible strength to His own, but He reserves the glory for Himself - not for the strength. Strength is good, but it is not God.

Wealth and skill are not just military terms. Today, the two accompany technology - science. Standing alone, each has merits applauded globally at this time in history.

Wealth has become the global goal.

Skill has become the global fascination.

Almost everywhere we look (especially with the abundance of social media today), we are reminded that wealth is the ultimate goal, and skill the ultimate entertainer. I will just go ahead and address the argument here: social media makes everyone feel like everyone else is doing well and that their lives are fine because of their stuff on display (houses, cars, boats, planes, jobs, toys, vacations, etc...). Likewise, untold hours are spent watching videos and programs demonstrating human skill (athletic, knowledge, talent, etc...) and the competition found in proving who is best.

It is worth interjecting here that pride and arrogance are not far separated from wealth and skill.

Have we lost our minds? I don't know that I would necessarily say that... but I would say we have lost our souls - which is a far greater tragedy. And it is all because of the insatiable lust for power and wealth. Skill has evolved, from the ability to repeatedly do what is necessary to be a contributing element of society, to a means to attract attention and its accompanying wealth... I am not far from right here.

As Jeremiah articulates for God in the verse above, we should run from the temptation to trust in wealth and skill and we should focus on trusting God alone.

What does that look like? Therein lies the problem. So many today are indoctrinated in the cult worship of wealth and skill to the point that trusting God is not even considered. And that, sadly, is a condition not absent in the Church. It will cost us dearly in the end.

The closet thing I see in the Bible that is an 'exercise' of trusting God alone is when Jesus sent His disciples out to minister and told them not to take extra stuff. They obviously had the stuff to take or Jesus would not have told them to leave it at home. Jesus knew they needed to trust God as an exercise of faith. We need to trust God as an exercise of faith. We need to set out to do the impossible with no wealth or skill - and see our Father's provision in so doing as a faith builder. I will just add here from my own experience that that is why many missionaries see so many miraculous events.

Father, help us to trust in You alone and betray all trust in wealth and skill. Help us to proactively walk away from our own wealth and skill and do Kingdom work attributable only to You!