A
preacher named Tom Harguess wrote a bulletin article a couple of decades ago
that I think captured our struggle with affluence. Here is a portion of what he
wrote:
While
holding a gospel meeting in Gallup, New Mexico, I began visiting with a lady of
the congregation, who had some time ago read an old book on the sinking of the
Titanic. It makes you take focus on what is really important in life.
On
April,14 1912, at 11:40 P.M., the unsinkable Titanic struck an iceberg. It sank
about 2:20 A.M., and the S.S. Carpathia arrived on the scene to receive
survivors at 4 A.M. At the time of the collision there were a total of 2340 on
board. Only 745 of that number were rescued.
What
is it to a man who is about to die, to know that there is at hand on the
Titanic 3 electric elevators, squash courts, Turkish baths, a hospital with an
operating room, private promenade decks, Renaissance cabins, a palm garden, a
darkroom for photography, the tapestry of an English castle, and a dinner
service of 10,000 pieces of silver and gold.
In
that midnight crisis the one thing needful was not provided, where everything
was supplied. The one inadequacy was the lack of lifeboats!
In
our modern world we have many luxuries. The finest homes, the finest
automobiles, the finest clothing, the finest food money can buy; many different
toys to amuse us. What many don’t have is security of life. A knowledge that
heaven awaits us.
Be
careful when you surround yourself with things and leave off caring for your
spiritual welfare. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world,
and loses his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26).
Well
said, Tom. What are our priorities of life?
