By Ron Thomas
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him (For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever), (Psalm 49:7-8, ASV)
We live on this earth with the prospect of making our lives pleasant and easier than the generation before us. We know that we don’t always achieve what we set out to accomplish, but it does not stop us from trying. In this trying there is hope of success. None of this is new to us. Unfortunately, as we set about to do this, we come nearer to the end of our individual lives before we accomplish it or think that we do. We then think about how we have lived our lives and wonder if we were (are) a blessing, a help, or a hindrance to others in the way we have lived. More than that, we think about our lives and wonder about the Lord’s response to the way we lived. “Have I done enough to be pleasing to the Lord?” and “Will He receive me into His eternal kingdom?”
Some of us are fortunate to have accumulated some means, some wealth. “Surely, if the Lord was not with me, I would not have what He gave me” we think. We transfer that thinking to “It must be the case the Lord is pleased with me, for how else can my wealth be explained?” never thinking it might be from the god of this world (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4).
The passage in Psalm 49 is a reminder that no matter what a person accumulates, there is no wealth available to a person that is satisfactory in redeeming (purchasing) a person from the throngs of Hell. Equally important on this theme is: no matter how gracious a person is, how charitable to others a person is, without the Lord Jesus directing their life in faithful obedience to His will, all is lost, even one’s soul.
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him (For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever), (Psalm 49:7-8, ASV)
We live on this earth with the prospect of making our lives pleasant and easier than the generation before us. We know that we don’t always achieve what we set out to accomplish, but it does not stop us from trying. In this trying there is hope of success. None of this is new to us. Unfortunately, as we set about to do this, we come nearer to the end of our individual lives before we accomplish it or think that we do. We then think about how we have lived our lives and wonder if we were (are) a blessing, a help, or a hindrance to others in the way we have lived. More than that, we think about our lives and wonder about the Lord’s response to the way we lived. “Have I done enough to be pleasing to the Lord?” and “Will He receive me into His eternal kingdom?”
Some of us are fortunate to have accumulated some means, some wealth. “Surely, if the Lord was not with me, I would not have what He gave me” we think. We transfer that thinking to “It must be the case the Lord is pleased with me, for how else can my wealth be explained?” never thinking it might be from the god of this world (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4).
The passage in Psalm 49 is a reminder that no matter what a person accumulates, there is no wealth available to a person that is satisfactory in redeeming (purchasing) a person from the throngs of Hell. Equally important on this theme is: no matter how gracious a person is, how charitable to others a person is, without the Lord Jesus directing their life in faithful obedience to His will, all is lost, even one’s soul.
- Ron Thomas
preacher for the Sunrush Church of Christ,
Chillicothe, OH. He may be contacted through the
congregation's website. http://sunrushchurchofchrist.com/
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