Warren Buffet’s chump change

A friend of mine chided me yesterday for mentioning Oprah Winfrey in a favorable manner in WFTD. He told me that he is dismayed that Oprah, who has tremendous influence over her “stay at home soccer moms” following, does not use her power to steer her faithful viewers towards Christ and instead influences them towards “New Age” humanist style non-Christian based books in her incredibly successful book club.

I mentioned to him that how Oprah chooses to utilize her power within the media or how she utilizes her wealth does not diminish in any way what she was able to accomplish in rising from abject poverty as a black woman from the difficult conditions that she faced, to billionaire status and becoming one of the most influential celebrities in the world. She accomplished this by working smart and working hard and that was the subject matter for yesterday. With that said I do agree that it would be wonderful if she would use her position to advance the cause of Christ by spreading the gospel through her television show and her book club. Hopefully any of us who work hard and work smart to get ahead, when we arrive, will use whatever we gain through our efforts to glorify God and spread the gospel.

I discussed this with a good friend of mine last night who loves the Lord and has given of his wealth sacrificially in order to spread the gospel. I told him to envision what we could do for the Lord if we had $62 billion dollars like Warren Buffett does. In fairness Mr. Buffett, like Bill Gates and plenty of other of the world’s rich and famous including Oprah, has pledged much of his fortune to charity; however I am talking about pledging it and giving it specifically to spread the word of Jesus Christ to the world. Just imagine how many people could be reached if Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey teamed up and used their wealth and influence to specifically spread the gospel and good news of Jesus Christ. (I personally believe that an event such as this will likely happen prior to the Rapture, whereby everyone in the world will hear the good news of Jesus Christ and have an opportunity to accept Him as their Savior before the end suddenly is upon us.)

When I read the account of how Jesus Christ was tempted by satan it became painfully obvious to me that satan has been given tremendous power over this world. The wealth and “riches”, (as the world views them), are his to give. When Jesus was famished and had been suffering in the desert for forty days, satan came to him in His weakened condition and offered him not only food and water, but he showed him the entire wealth of the world and told Him that it could all be His if He would only bow down and worship Him. Jesus of course refused and satan departed and one of the angels came and ministered to Him. The example Jesus leaves us is that the real treasures to be had are not of this world but of heaven.

I believe that without question some have made a deal with the devil. The Rolling Stones come to my mind, but I am no one’s judge and it will be them and not me that face God and give an account of what they have done in their lifetimes. To me it is more beneficial to concentrate on how I can personally resist satan’s powerful temptations and spread the gospel of Christ than worry about how others fare with it.

One never knows how they might personally react to the temptation of looking down on the entire world, the money, the fame, the power, the “beautiful people” and sensual pleasures of this world that are satan’s to grant if we will only worship him. Speaking from experience I can tell you that one of the hardest things to do when one makes significant money is to resist the tremendous temptation of satan that comes with it. Think about Elvis Presley and the temptations that he was exposed to every day of his life. Who knows, that very reason might be exactly why God does not grant that kind of wealth to some of us. He knows that by so doing we would succumb to the temptation and be ensnared in satan’s trap of sin which leads to tragedy and death.

I urge you to concentrate on using whatever God has blessed you with to glorify God and spread the gospel. I do not care if you are poor as a church mouse, you can tell someone about Jesus Christ and thereby earn tremendous wealth and treasures that will await you in heaven. They will be everlasting and will not be destroyed along with all that is in this world as we know it. If you can use some of the suggestions of yesterday’s devotional of working hard and working smart to achieve your goals of furthering the kingdom of God, you will amass huge treasures in heaven that will make Warren Buffett’s nest egg look like chump change. Best of all this opportunity is avialable to all of us and is ours just for the taking!

Matt. 6:19
Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroys and where thieves
break in and steal;
but lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth
nor rust destroys and where thieves
do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also.