Thought for the Day

Verse 16 - Without God, every human being is miserable. Misery can be temporarily quenched by things in this world, but eventually the emptiness comes back, since only God can satisfy the heart of man. Godliness with contentment is great gain, but those wanting to get rich fall into many temptations (1 Timothy 6:6-11). There are many things that money cannot buy and many troubles that come with having a lot of it. No matter how much we gain, eventually we will leave every physical thing behind when we die. We bring nothing into the world and we carry nothing out. We must pursue those spiritual things that we can take with us: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, and godly relationships.

We should here note again that the love of money (not money itself) is the root of evil. We all need money, but for Christians, it is simply a medium of exchange that we use to take care of our families and ourselves and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Verse 17 - It is better to share a small, inexpensive meal with someone you love than to live with someone who is full of hate, even though they may have an ox in the stall being fattened up for a big dinner. We can make bad choices regarding marriage partners, if we allow money to influence our decision. Having love in a marriage is more important than having money.

Godly character should be the deciding factor in choosing a mate. A Christian should seek the will of God first, and allow the Lord to bless them with His choice. If marriage with a particular person cannot glorify the Lord, then it would be better to remain alone. There are worse things than being single. One of them is to be out of God's will by compromising and marrying someone who does not feel the same way we do about the Lord. Marriage is the second major choice we make in our lives; rushing into it can be disastrous. We should enter into it with much prayer.

Of course, the most important decision of our lives, is our decision to follow the Lord. This is not just a one-time declaration, but a daily determination to follow Jesus. Just as it is better to have little of this world's possessions and to have the Lord, than to have great treasures without Him, so it is better to have a godly, loving mate with little of this world's pleasures, than to live with someone who lacks godly character. If we honor God in every part of our lives and every decision we make, He will bless us. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).