Here’s how the Bible addresses it:
James 4:13-14 — Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Seldom do you see it played out so clearly as in this past week’s story of former billionaire Tim Blixseth who has found himself in “involuntary bankruptcy” up in Montana. The Associated Press has been following the story.
“Officials (in Montana) are seeking almost $57 million from the real estate baron, who now resides in Washington state.
“Blixseth also owes $1.1 million in Idaho income taxes and almost $1 million in California, according to a petition filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Nevada.
“A court-issued summons gives Blixseth 21 days to respond. He told The Associated Press he will fight the petition and described it as politically motivated.”
It just goes to show that you don’t have to be making minimum wage, or ever working-class salaries to find yourself in financial stress in this age.
Sadly, the story also has its political side. But then what doesn’t today?
“Forbes once pegged Tim Blixseth’s value at $1.3 billion.
“Court documents now put the figure at roughly $230 million.
“Blixseth acknowledged owing about $1.3 million in income taxes for Idaho and California. He said he intends to pay those debts.
“But he said Montana’s claim was concocted in a scheme by Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer in collusion with Dan Bucks and the current owners of the Yellowstone Club.”
One of the points to learn from this story is that it is easy to find oneself in a less than secure economic position in this economy.
At the end of the movie, “Patton” we hear words that certainly speak to our time.
“For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph — a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments.
“The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses.
“A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning — that all glory is fleeting.”
— Chuck Smith