I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 17th of July, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of John 18:36. Jesus answering Pontius Pilate said:

“…My kingdom is not from here.”

Then we go to the Gospel of Luke 12:15:

“Take heed”, Jesus says, ”and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

To covet something is to want something that is not yours, and something that you probably don’t need but you just want it. My dear friends, I have seen it so many times. We don’t need half of the stuff that we have in our homes, do we? I am talking to myself as well. You know, there are things that we love, there are things that we really want but we don’t need them, and that is a big danger.

Do you remember the story of the man that worked so hard all his life. He scraped, he scrimped, he lived “on the smell of an oil rag” as they say. He worked so hard but it came at the expense of his family, it came at the expense of relationships, he became unpopular. He wasn’t very well loved. He saved it up and bought gold, and he bought lots of gold. In fact, he had a suitcase full of gold bars. And then he died and he went to Heaven, and he took that suitcase with him and when he got to Heaven, the Lord asked Him, “What have you got in that suitcase?” He said, “I have got my possessions, the things that I have coveted all my life and I have brought them with me.” The Lord took him outside. He said, “Do you see the streets here in Heaven are paved with gold? It is worthless.”

Oh my friend today, please start to focus on eternal things. I am talking about relationships with your loved ones. Work on those things. Don’t work on things that rust and moth will destroy, things which have no eternal benefit. That’s what Jesus said to Pilate. He said, “This is not My kingdom. My kingdom is in Heaven.”

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.