Where do you stand?

Where do you stand?
The writer of Ecclesiastes writes,

“Whoever loves money never has enough;

 whoever loves wealth 

is never satisfied with their income 

this too is meaningless.” 

                                             Ecclesiastes 5:10.

The apostle Paul writes,

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 

Some people, eager for money, 

have wandered from the faith 

and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 

                                             1 Timothy 6:10

Now there is nothing wrong with having a lot of money. The problem arises when you put the wrong emphasis on money. When you love it. As the writer of Ecclesiastes states,

“Whoever loves money never has enough”

The apostle Paul telling us,

“Some people, eager for money have wandered from their faith

and pierced themselves with many griefs”

Money can buy you nice things in this world. Enough money can buy you anything material thing your heart desires. Money however cannot buy you true peace of mind or a place in heaven.
Jesus told this parable,
"Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." 
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  
He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 
"Then he said, ‘This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  
And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 
"But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:15-21.
Matthew’s gospel records Jesus saying something we should all consider. Jesus said,

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, 

yet forfeit his soul?” 

                            Matthew 8:36.

Jesus speaking of himself said,
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
      For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  
     Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son". John 3:16-18
So where do you stand?
Are you certain of where you will spend eternity?
Please think about it.

Where do you stand?

Where do you stand?

Jesus told this parable,
“Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  

As he was scattering the seed, 

some fell along the path, 

and the birds came and ate it up.  

Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. 

It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  

But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, 

and they withered because they had no root. 

Other seed fell among thorns, 

which grew up and choked the plants.  

Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—

a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  

He who has ears, let him hear.” 

Matthew 13:3-9.

Jesus interprets the parable saying,

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom 

and does not understand it, 

the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. 

This is the seed sown along the path.  

The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places 

is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  

But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. 

When trouble or persecution comes because of the word,

 he quickly falls away. 

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns 

is the man who hears the word, 

but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, 

making it unfruitful.  

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil 

is the man who hears the word and understands it. 

He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” 

Matthew 13: 18-23

Here is an illustration I have found to be true in my years as a Christian. The Gospel message about Jesus is being sown, spread throughout our society, our world.
1/ There are those who hear about it but have closed minds they are if you will like the hard packed surface of the road. The message of the gospel is presented but they don’t want to listen to it. They dismiss it without thought.
2/ Then there are those who listen to the message about Jesus and for a brief time believe. They may very quickly become involved in the Church but because they have never bothered to put down roots. To build a strong foundation for their faith. They eventually wander away from the faith.
3/ Then there are those who hear the word of God but their faith is lacking. They let the worries of life and temptations of the world take over their faith. taking them away from God.
4/ Finally there are those who willingly accept the gospel message. Those who are truly looking for spiritual meaning and peace in life.
These people take the word of God to heart. They study the scriptures. They learn all they can about Jesus and God.  They are true believers. Men and women of faith who no matter what happens their faith is not shaken.
My question to you is where do you stand with respect to Jesus, with respect to God?
Please think about it.