For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.  So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.  –James 1:11

Some things last forever, and other things aren’t quite so fortunate.  It’s interesting to consider the material goods for which we pine away and to realize that they hold no lasting value.  I was looking at my car the other day.  When I first bought it over 8 years ago, it was a thing of beauty.  Now there is paint chipping in various places and the doors have a few dents.  Its beauty is fading and will probably be gone by the end of my lifetime as will be most material goods here on earth.  The point is that wealth that isn’t leveraged for the sake of building God’s kingdom is essentially squandered on something that will simply wither away one day and cease to exist.  The lasting life is the one that submits itself to the Lord in humility rather than boasting in the accumulation of stuff.  The hard part of James’ words is that most of us fall into the category of the “rich man.”  We have so much, and one day we will be held accountable for what we did with what we were given.  Pray today that God will give you a generous heart to leverage your wealth for the sake of enlarging His kingdom.