Ezekiel 27:27
Most of us have caught ourselves believing that one more purchase, one more upgrade, one more win would finally settle something restless inside us. It never quite does. But we keep trying anyway.
Ezekiel 25 through 28 pronounces judgment on six nations surrounding Israel, and Tyre gets some of the harshest words of all. Tyre was a wealthy trading city, full of merchants, sailors, and cargo from every corner of the ancient world. And God describes exactly what happens to all of it when judgment comes. “Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your crew that is in your midst, sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your fall” (Ezekiel 27:27). Every ship, every trade route, every ounce of wealth. All of it went straight to the bottom.
People put their trust in all kinds of things, and money is one of the easiest to reach for. We tell ourselves more money will finally make life feel settled. We stop trying to keep up with the neighbors, not because we’ve let it go, but because we’ve decided to win outright. The best house, the newest car, the latest phone. What does any of that actually accomplish in the end? Jesus asked it plainly. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
Money isn’t the only thing we lean on, though. Some of us build our lives around being better than the next person. Tyre’s king had both problems at once. God told him, “By your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth” (Ezekiel 28:5). That kind of pride shows up in every field, from the architect to the inventor, and even preachers aren’t immune to its pull. For some people it was never really about the money. It’s about the feeling of coming out on top.
Here’s the truth underneath both of these. All of it is temporary. The job, the house, even our families as we know them here, none of it comes with us into the next life. “You do not know what tomorrow will bring” (James 4:14). The only thing that lasts is what we’ve done for the Lord.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting a good life, as long as our priorities stay in the right order. Jesus told us not to lay up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, but to lay up treasures in heaven instead (Matthew 6:19-20). Anything we build, anything we own, should point back to him and draw us closer, not quietly take his place.
This week, take an honest look at where your trust actually lives. Not where you’d say it lives if someone asked you at church. Where it really lives, on a normal Tuesday, when nobody’s watching. Whatever you find there, it either sinks with the ship or it lasts forever. It won’t do both.
