As the United States prepares for another presidential campaign in the coming year, hopeful candidates begin to present their plans and ideas for how they can get the country back on track. Whether it has to do with reducing public debt, solving the problem of health care, or creating jobs, the candidates present their answers with an abundance of confidence and hubris. Taken at face value, all of the candidates would appear to solve the country’s troubles, if only elected into the presidential office.
 
It may be a pessimistic prediction, but we can be reasonably sure that whoever will be elected president of the United States next year will not bring about any lasting solutions, and in all likelihood, will cause a further decline in international favor. With prophecy in the equation, the pessimistic prediction becomes a realistic certainty. The Bible makes it clear that man’s answers to his own problems, when God is not in the picture, are doomed to ultimate failure.
 
The only way to escape imminent destruction is through repentance and returning to God. Recall the story of Nineveh, when the city repented in a comprehensive manner, directed from the leadership (compare Jonah 3:5-8). At that time, the disobedience of the people in that city aroused the anger in God, who threatened to destroy it.  However, after hearing about the prophesied destruction that would come upon them, the inhabitants took it to heart and changed. As a result, God too changed His mind. Jonah 3:10 reads, “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”
 
Can you imagine any secular politician campaigning on a platform of returning to the one true God and His laws? Can you imagine a candidate presenting the simple act of repentance of our sins as the solution to the country’s problems? To say the least, it is far-fetched to even conceive of that happening. And even those who may occasionally speak of God and the Bible and our “Judeo-Christian heritage” do not represent the true God, nor do they even understand, let alone embrace and live, the timeless laws of the Ten Commandments, statutes and judgments. Instead, as man’s history repeats itself, God’s ways will continue to be rejected in favor of his own solutions (compare Mark 7:9). Yet, repentance is what must happen to turn the direction of our countries and the world around.
 
Sadly, such a turn in direction will not happen with the re-election of the current president of the United States, nor the election of a different one. However, we do know, through the prophecy of the Word of God, that a righteous kingdom will be established on earth. At that time, the hearts of the people living on earth will turn, as they did in Nineveh (compare Malachi 4:6). While we can be sure that the current or a new president of the United States will not take that path, we look forward to the time when God’s kingdom will be established. At that time, Isaiah 9:7 will become a reality:  “Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” May that time come quickly.

The Bible is very clear about its instruction for us to be careful when we plan our activities in life, and in nothing is this more true than in our commitment to God. In the context of understanding our level of commitment to Him, Jesus provides us a comparison in Luke 14:28: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it.” Jesus then goes on to say that if for the sake of discipleship, we are not willing to give up everything detrimental to God’s Way of Life, we are not worthy to be a disciple. Our sacrifice for the sake of following Christ must be comprehensive.  Since this commitment is so comprehensive, it is easy to slip up on.

A common aphorism is that failing to plan is planning to fail. But, how about plans that fail? Even if we have seriously “counted the cost” and think our commitment and sacrifices are complete and genuine, we will certainly find blind spots where we fail. How often are our intentions good and we have seemingly prepared everything to the best of our ability, but then we find ourselves behaving inconsistently? Is there something we can do?

Fortunately, God has provided us a way to correct our paths. Just as a global positioning system [GPS] or a satellite-based navigation system will recalculate a path for us when we get off track, the gift of repentance is a tool that we can use to obtain forgiveness, when we find that we are off track (compare Acts 5:31). However, repentance and forgiveness only work when we go through the process of evaluating the success of our plans. In order to do this evaluation, we first need to know where we plan to go. Only then can we even know that we are in need of a course correction.

Expanding on the example cited above, before counting the cost to build a tower, we first need to know that we want to build a tower. We must firmly establish our commitment to God, knowing that it is the most important thing in our lives, and then make the plans for how to work towards it.

The Bible gives us encouragement regarding the plans we make. It may be true that we have a righteous goal in mind – to commit our lives to God – but the steps in our plan to achieve that goal need to be consistent. The Bible is full of stories about people who had seemingly good intents, but poor plans, doing what was right in their own eyes (compare Judges 17:6). God must direct the plans we make (compare Proverbs 16:9). If we allow Him to do so and follow His lead, we are encouraged that we will have help and support along the way (compare Psalm 121:3). God wants us to succeed, but our success is only possible if we accept and choose God’s right goal and plan for us.

Are you rich, or are you poor? Does your answer change depending on the person asking the question? What kind of criteria do you use to measure your level of wealth? Do you count the sum of the value of your possessions? Do you count the number of cars you own, or the square footage of your home? Or do you count something else?
 
No matter what the criteria, when we answer the question of whether we are rich or poor, we base it on some evaluation of what we have or what we do not have. The United States of America, by measure of gross domestic product, is the richest country in the world. One might think that such a country would not have problems paying its bills. However, in the Current Events today, we read about the grim reality that without drastic measures, this country will fail to make payments on its loans in the coming weeks.
 
How can such a prosperous and powerful country fall so dramatically into a state of massive financial delinquency? Stated differently, how can a country so rich be so poor? While the passage does not strictly apply to the debt crisis of the United States, Revelation 3:17-18 explains a similar paradox. Speaking of the Laodiceans, Christ says: “‘Because you say, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” — and do not know that you are wretched, poor, blind and naked — I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich…’”
 
In this example, placed in the Bible for us, we learn that carnal pride in material success is a direct cause of true poverty. The only way to become truly rich is by working towards perfection, following the righteous instructions of God. Quite simply, we become poor when we turn from God. When we place our hearts and confidence in the material wealth we might accumulate, rather than what is spiritually important, we are investing in worthless assets. God instructs us to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21), and not to invest in things which perish (John 6:27), placing value in the things of this world, which have no real and lasting value.
 
If turning away from God causes us to be poor, what happens when we do the opposite? How do we change when we turn our ways towards God? The answer is just as simple. When we fear the LORD, we prosper (compare Psalm 25:12-13). The eternal life and rewards written about in the Bible are the goals we should be working for. This is only attainable through faith and obedience, and bearing fruit with the talents that we have been provided (compare Matthew 25:14-30).

The Bible clearly states that material goods and worldly possessions are of no ultimate value, and that a heart working to overcome the world through God’s faith, righteousness and Godly obedience produces true profit. With the Holy Spirit of God, the greatest investment known to man has been placed in our possession. With this in mind, I’ll ask you one last question: How does it feel to be rich?