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Chimney Mountain! I wanted our family to conquer it together. So, my wife and I, and our then three little Hutchcrafts started hiking up the trail. And my wife was a lovely tour guide as we went up that mountain trail. She pointed out for example, “Oh, look at the chipmunks over there! Hey, there goes a squirrel! Oh, look at those roots, they’re huge! Notice how they tangled around the tree. Wait, wait, stop, listen; can you hear the wind whispering to us in the pines?” We were having a great time together.

We were about half-way up the mountain and my wife said, “Oh, this has really been nice. Well, let’s go back.” I said, “What? Let’s go back? What is the purpose for getting on a mountain trail in the first place? The reason you climb a mountain is to get to the top of the mountain. We’ve got to conquer it! We have to achieve!” But my wife was saying, “Well, we’ve had a nice experience together. Isn’t that what was important?” Sounds kind of like a guy and a woman perspective, doesn’t it? Get to the top or get with each other? You have to decide what’s important on your mountain too.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Your Goal or Your People?”

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ecclesiastes 4. Solomon says this in verse 4, “And I saw that all labor and all achievements spring from man’s envy for his neighbor.” He called it kind of a great chase! “This, too," he said, "is meaningless...” That’s his verdict on a lifetime of work. Listen to this: "a chasing after the wind.” Then he says, “Better one handful with tranquility than two hands full with toil and chasing after the wind.”

Now, this sounds like an indictment really of a lifestyle that’s considered normal by most of us. Work harder and harder to get more and more. The tendency is to live as if my worth is my work. I am what I do. Then one day people retire and they don’t know who they are because they don’t have their job any more.

One day after I spoke at a church, a well-dressed woman came up to me, probably in her 30s, she started to cry and she shook her head and she said, “I can’t believe I fell for it.”

I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “All these years we‘ve watched the price that our husbands paid to chase success: stress, heart attacks, pressure, broken relationships.” And she said, “I decided I would go after that too.” And she said, “Do you know what I have to show for it? Pressure at work and failure at home.”

Men have fallen for the lie that your worth is your work for a long time – getting up that mountain. And you know what? Now women are falling for it too. Now they’re getting the ulcers; they’re getting the heart attacks, and both are leaving a trail of neglected relationships as they push up the trail. There was a song some years ago that said, “Daddy, don’t you walk so fast. Won’t you slow down some, because you’re making me run? Daddy, don’t you walk so fast.”

People around us may be crying, “Slow down! I need time with you!” But we’re ruled by our work. God says, “People are more important than work or achievement.” Only you can be Mom or Dad to your kids. You’re the only husband or wife, brother or sister that they have. Are you busy chugging up Mount Work, Mount Accomplishment, Mount Goal? Are you so busy that the people you love are only getting your leftovers?

Being is more important than doing. Who you’re on the mountain with is more important than getting to the top.

On In The Market with Janet Parshall this week, Jac Marino Chen’s powerful account of how a life ensnared in addiction and the occult was surrendered and transformed by the love of Jesus. The writer /director of the film “A Great Awakening” gave us insight into the creation of this film about the lives of Ben Franklin and George Whitfield. Singer Charles Billingsly joined us to talk about the Freedom Gathering in Washington D.C. on July 3rd and why this celebration of faith and freedom is so important. In the midst of these patriotic times, we must not forget that there are some innocent lives that are lost through abortion before they ever experience American freedom. Dr. Michael New shared with us the results of a recent Gallup poll on abortion and discussed whether vital federal funding will be cut from Planned Parenthood on July 4th.  Dr. Sam Storms opened up God’s word to answer your questions about eternal security. We continue our fight against the misinformation and confusion in today’s marketplace of ideas by measuring them against the straight stick of God’s word.

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What is wrong with America today? Our culture is increasingly immoral, the family structure is threatened from all sides, and government programs consistently overreach, creating massive debt. Cal Thomas, one of the most popular nationally syndicated columnists and trusted commentator, will offer a diagnosis of what exactly is wrong with the United States by drawing parallels to once-great empires and nations that declined into oblivion. Join us as he offers hope and challenges us to “preserve our republic”.

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Religious activity cannot save. Church attendance, good works, and spiritual words are not enough. In this urgent message from Matthew 25, Dr. Michael Youssef warns that only those who are born again by the Holy Spirit, repentant before God, and surrendered to Jesus Christ will be ready when the Bridegroom returns.

From AWAKE DC, Dr. Youssef calls the Church to wake up and pray for another Great Awakening. The hour is serious. The return of Christ is certain. And the Word of God is clear: Jesus, the eternal Son of God, is coming again.

This message calls believers to:

The Bridegroom is coming. Are you ready?

Scripture Focus: Matthew 25

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In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.”

That is a sobering warning. Prosperity can be a blessing from God, but it becomes dangerous when it begins to shape our identity. Wealth itself is not the problem. The danger comes when our possessions begin to speak for us—when they become a way of saying, Look how successful I am. Look how secure I am. Look how important I’ve become.

That temptation is not new. We see it clearly in the life of King Hezekiah.

Hezekiah was one of Judah’s better kings. Scripture tells us he trusted in the Lord, removed idols, and led the people back toward faithful worship. When Jerusalem was threatened by Assyria, Hezekiah prayed, and God miraculously delivered the city.

Around that same time, Hezekiah became gravely ill. Once again, God showed him mercy and extended his life by fifteen years.

So Hezekiah had much to testify about. He had seen God’s deliverance. He had received God’s mercy. He had literally been spared from death. But then came a test.

2 Kings 20 tells us that envoys arrived from Babylon after hearing about Hezekiah’s illness. They brought letters and a gift, and Hezekiah welcomed them.

Verse 13 says, “And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.”

There was nothing he did not show them.

Hezekiah had a golden opportunity to point these visitors to the God who had healed and delivered him. Instead, he opened his vault.

Hezekiah’s failure was not that he had treasure. His failure was that he magnified what he owned rather than the God who gave it.

His wealth became his testimony.

Later, the prophet Isaiah came to Hezekiah and asked a piercing question: “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

Isaiah’s response was sobering. The very wealth Hezekiah had displayed would one day be carried off to Babylon.

It is a powerful warning for us. Hezekiah treated God’s provision as a monument to his own success. He forgot that everything in his storehouses had first been entrusted to him by the Lord.

Wealth becomes spiritually dangerous the moment we look at what we have and say, “Look what I built,” instead of, “Look what God has done.”

Jeremiah 9:23 says, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches.”

That verse names three things people have always been tempted to trust: intelligence, influence, and wealth. We are drawn to whatever makes us feel strong, secure, or significant.

But the next verse gives us a better boast: “But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me.”

That is the only boast that lasts. Not what we own. Not what we earn. Not what we build. Not what others think of us.

Our true boast is that we know the Lord—the God of steadfast love, justice, and righteousness.

So what does Hezekiah’s story mean for us as modern-day stewards?

First, we should ask whether wealth has begun creeping into our identity. 

There is nothing wrong with enjoying God’s provision. Scripture teaches us to receive His gifts with gratitude. But provision should lead us toward worship, humility, and generosity—not self-importance.

When we begin to believe that our possessions prove our worth, success, or security, we are n

Ever feel exhausted trying to be “good enough” for God? On FamilyLife Today, Dave and Ann Wilson sit down with Portia Collins for a funny, raw conversation about legalism, perfectionism, and the night a Galatians Bible study wrecked her life—in the best way possible. Between Marvel talk and gaming stories, Portia unpacks how grace finally broke through years of guilt, striving, and performance-based faith.

Show Notes and Resources

• Find out more about Portia on her website: portiacollins.com

• Thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at CSBible.com.
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To borrow from Mark Twain, “bad news can travel halfway around the world, while good news is still putting on its shoes.” When an influential believer falls into sin, it seems like we hear about it at the speed of light. But how do we reach out to someone who’s helped us, when they’re the ones who need help? Pastor Greg Laurie answers that question today on A NEW BEGINNING. We’re considering a story about Noah in the book of Genesis. This godly man sinned. But we can learn from this biblical account.

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