FADE AWAY

By Rick Mathes

James 1:11 (NASB77) For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass; and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

Some have done the “Solomon thing” and made a lot of money that almost destroyed them. Do you know why? Things own you and the more you have of them the less you have of you. Business cares will swallow you so that all family and church life whither and passes away. The lust for more is insatiable to most. The special few wealthy Christians however keep the engine of evangelism missions and corporate church life alive. One donor actually gave me a personal check for $440,000. All I could say was, “If you love to give like I love to lead souls to the Savior, I understand.”

The luxuries or the wealthy inherently cause a neglect of duty to our commitments. The restless life of getting and keeping are a futile effort because dust returns to dust and there’s no way to stop it. I have put in writing in my will that I don’t want my remains to be buried in a casket. I want my body to return to the blessed earth God made it from in the first place.

Without the peace of mind eternal life with Jesus gives, we live a restless life as do the fallen angels that go to and fro seeking those they can destroy: the fat and lazy Christians. The devil takes many shapes and forms and you can find him in the pulpits of some of the mega-churches that forbid anyone to speak the words sin, death, hell, repent, believe or obey.

This fading away was very obvious in the “downgrade controversy” that caused The Prince of Preaches, CW Spurgeon to leave the Baptist denomination. With this worry and fear comes sleeplessness and a failing health. Our bodies are the machine we treat as though it is non-negotiable. This presupposition that finally proves itself to be false. Alcohol, drugs, abandoned morals, poor-diet, no exercising, etc. cause us to fade away not just in power and wealth, but in memory. Who will even remember you when you go home and take your mind home with you.

Your memory, wealth, and power just fade away. Who will ever remember you when all you are and all you have become is returned to the dust from which it came from?