Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Numbers 13-16
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 13:2
Jesus: Look closely at these magnificent buildings. Someday there won’t be one of these great stones left on another. Everything will be thrown down.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
The disciples, like us, grew up in the world. They couldn’t get away from its influences. Just like us. They heard all the talk about the importance of money and material things. They heard it from the businessmen in the marketplace they visited for all the goods they required to survive. They heard it from the boat builders and net makers who vied for better equipment so they could improve their catch. They heard it from the construction workers who offered to build better homes for their families.
The disciples heard about the importance of grandeur and how it showed status in this world. Money and material worlds must be important. Everyone said so. They even heard it from the priests who talked about the money they needed for funding various projects to restore utensils or to gild altars or add extra rooms onto the temple or build a new synagogue somewhere. Everyone talked about money.
It’s no wonder they looked at the massive walls of the temple that towered over the city and marveled at its beauty. This was a masterpiece from the artisans’ hearts who put their souls into its construction. This was the house of God in Jerusalem. They were notably impressed. They gawked at the structure. They’d seen it before, but every time the temple came into site, the gleaming white limestone with its gold ornamentation caught the shine of the sun and created a new stunning view for the pilgrims who journeyed to it.
But we do the same, don’t we? Have you been to New York City lately and just stood in the middle of the business district in Manhattan and looked up at all those sky-rises? Granted, they don’t gleam like the temple did, but they are pretty impressive. When most of the buildings in the world are limited in height to the number of stories its inhabitants are willing to walk up, those hundred story structures take your breath away.
And in all the store windows, the merchants taunt with advertisements that tell you that life will be so much better if you have whatever it is they sell. You just must have the latest which-a-ma-jig. Everyone is getting them and you’ll just not survive without one. In fact, even if you have one, you better get another one because there are sure to be updates to the one they sell and you don’t want to get behind.
The world is very good and trying to teach us the wrong things. It works hard at convincing us that what we see and what we can put our hands on is what’s important in life. The world works really hard at making us think material things are the answer to all of life’s problems. But the world lies. Satan operates here and he is a liar and the father of lies. Just check on the lives of the wealthiest people in the world and see how satisfied they are with their wealth. All of them, almost without exception will tell you it’s not enough. They need more. They need more security, they’re afraid something will happen and they’ll lose what they have. They worry about what will happen to all their assets when they die. What will happen to all those companies and holdings and houses and coffers that store their treasures?
Jesus knows the difficulty all of us have because of the influence we grow up with. He grew up in the middle of it, too. He heard those same stories from the businessmen and merchants and builders. He heard the same stories from the priests and neighbors and all those people who took stock in material things instead of heavenly things. He knows how easy it is to get our eyes off of the heavenly and get awed by the size and splendor of the things men build. But they are just things. They have no permanence. Just think about the seven wonders of the world. Only one of the seven remains, the pyramids in Egypt. But even those have been looted and are crumbling into the sands of the desert. All the others are gone.
The same will happen to all the material things we think we last forever. They won’t. Nothing will last except our eternal soul and the things we store up for ourselves in heaven. And what are those things? The good things we do for other people and the praise we give to God. That’s it. No more. Everything else will be gone. Jesus reminded His disciples and us of the transitory nature of all the marvels the world throws at us to tempt us. As beautiful and magnificent as even the temple, the house of God, it would soon come crashing down. Be awed by the right things. That’s nothing the world has to offer.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.