Bible
Study: James 5, 1 to 6 and Mark 9, 41 to 50.
The book of Proverbs chapter
10, verse 22 states: “The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no
sorrow with it.” To be rich is a blessing which only God can give. And when one
is rich, he or she becomes a source of blessing to others who are not as lucky.
True riches bring joy and happiness. They help to prolong one’s life by saving
him or her or health issues. True riches not only make their owners happy, they
also become agents of happiness to those who come in contact with them. Happiness
just like sadness is contagious. A single genuine smile can light up a whole
crowd of people.
However as St. James points
out today, there is a kind of riches that does the very opposite of what true
riches can do. There is a form of wealth that brings sorrow rather than joy. There
is the riches that only make its owner restless and unhappy. This kind of
riches is not a blessing from God, rather it is the type of riches Satan
promised to give Jesus if he agreed to bow. Satanic riches is that gotten from injustice,
denial and oppression of others, refusal to pay your worker’s salaries and
wages as at when due, eating the sweat and pains of others without conscience.
Satanic riches are those gotten
from having to deny God by indulging in sin, riches gotten from others by
trickery or robbery, riches gotten from looting public funds thereby denying
one’s nation the chance of economic development, riches gotten by having to
make people suffer. All such riches only leave their owners in perpetual sorrow.
In the Gospel passage, Jesus
recommends that we should not be afraid to cut off our hands and legs and pluck
out our eyes so as to avoid sin. When we apply it to what St. James is saying
in the first reading, it means if for instance, becoming wealthy is something
that will lead you to offend God, it is better to remain poor in this life and
go to heaven than to become the richest person on earth only to die and receive
a triumphant welcome in hell.
Just as it is good to have a
hand and leg and eyes to see the world, it is also good to aspire for wealth
and to pray for it from God. But if becoming rich has to involve sin, then
pluck it out! Cut it off.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, help me to free
myself from the desire to compete with the world for material things but to
realise that my goal is heaven. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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