Fool's Gold Part 1 Series

Introduction

You may have heard the expression all that glitters is not gold. It may look like the real thing but when it is put to the test it does not have the value you thought it had. That my friends is called Fool’s Gold. Fool's gold looks like real thing but when put to the test, it fails miserably in value.

Think with me about the many things people think are valuable in this world- things people think are the real thing that we should be thriving to gather.

How about our possessions, I know people who thrive so hard to accumulate all that they can! Are our possessions the real thing? There was a man in the Bible who thought all that he accumulated was the real thing. Those possessions were so valuable to him that he was willing to tear down his old barns and build bigger ones to store his possessions. God called this man a fool because your soul is required of you, and you were not rich toward God. He bought the fool’s gold.

Now work that must be the real thing. It is all about moving up the corporate ladder from an unknown to a person everyone recognizes to a person who has much significance in the world. People like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, the guy who invented Apple iPhone, Steve Jobs. Guys and gals who made it to the top. That is what we all should do invest our lives in our work. After all, you and I might find our place of significance like those guys. Business success must be the real thing. As I read my Bible, it tells me what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his own soul. Thriving for business success at the expense of your own soul is fool’s gold.

I know what gold might be. Your possessions, your wealth, business success and whatever else you can rather to you. It takes the whole package! In the Bible, there was a man by the name of King Solomon who gathered it all, and He wrote an entire book in the Bible about having it all. King Solomon described it as vanity of vanities- chasing after the wind. In other words, fool’s gold.

So, what then is the real gold? What then in this life is of real value? We are going to be talking about that over the next four weeks.

We begin today by looking from a passage of Scripture in Psalm 119:9-11.

Scripture

Psalm 119:9–11 (NKJV)

? Beth

9 How can a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed according to Your word.

10 With my whole heart I have sought You;

Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!

11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.

Point #1

A person can have all this world has to offer, but if he or she is not living in right relationship to God, it is fool’s goal.

9 How can a young man cleanse his way?...

It is a question that demands an answer. The question implies by its nature that a young person, whether it is a young man, or a young woman may lose their way in life.

And that is so true, I have seen many a young man and many a young woman leave their parent’s home, and it seems like they go crazy.

It is all about making the money. They may have been very active as a teenager in church. They may have attended faithfully Bro. Jeremy’s Teen Night. But get out there and see how much money you can make and what that money can buy you, and a young person will go crazy. Add to that their independence, not having to check in with their parents as to where they are going and what time they are getting back, and that quiet polite young man or young woman seems to go wild.

Lifeway Research, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Church in 2019 saw there was a problem and so they studied the fall away of young people from church. And this is what they discovered. While 69 percent of young people say they were attending church at age 17, that fell to 58 percent at age 18 and 40 percent at age 19. Once they reach their early 20s, around 1 in 3 say they were attending church regularly, or a sixty six percent drop off.

And if you happen to be a parent of one of these young people, what is your prayer for them? It is not that they make more money, or that they might find more exciting ways to be independent. Your prayer is that he or she return back to God. So, parents, what you are saying is that God is more valuable than the money your child is making or the independence they are experiencing. You are saying your child is settling for fool’s gold rather than what they need- Jesus Christ in their life.