* God is rebuking the Israelites for their lack of faith along with their deliberate disobedience.

* Vs 5 - You’re “cursed” if you trust in yourself or others and not God.

* Vs 7-8 - You’re “blessed” if you trust in God - like a “tree planted by a stream,” constantly nourished, lacking nothing.

* Vs 9 - You can’t trust your own heart.

* Vs 10 - You can trust God to search your heart and mind. How? By listening to Him!

* Then God turns His rebuke toward their pursuit of money.

* Money represents security, so God talks about it a lot!

* Money is a magnifier - it magnifies who you are.

* If you’re a giver, you’ll give more.

* If you’re selfish, you’ll hoard more.

* If you find your identity in it, you’ll wear it as a badge of honor.

* If you’re stingy, you’ll become even more stingy (Todd Tucker).

* Vs 11a - Those who go after riches are like a bird that sits on top of eggs it didn’t lay, only to be exposed as a fraud when the new bird hatches.

* A partridge (brown bird) can sit on top of a dove egg (white bird) and the common passerby sees a loving mother protecting her young.

* Until the egg hatches, at which point the partridge is revealed a fraud.

* Those who pursue riches look great …for a while.

* But there comes a time when they’ll be revealed for the frauds they are.

* Vs 11b - God lets them build and grow half their lives until it comes crashing down.

* EX: Tower of Babel

* So what do we do?

* Don’t focus on money, focus on value.

* Monetary value follows tangible value.

* When you bring value to others then money will chase you down.

* Money then becomes:

* A carrot that gets you moving in the right direction.

* A measuring stick that keeps you moving in the right direction.

* And your work will be worship.