We think the price of properties in Auckland, New Zealand is really high, and its been getting worse since the Covid pandemic, but on the big picture it doesn’t even feature in the top 20 most expensive properties in the world.
I googled the world’s most expensive real estate awhile back and here is one list I found. It’s how many square meters you could get for $1 million. 10th is Shanghai @ $1million per 46.2 sq. meters. Next is Moscow 43 sq. m, then Paris 41.7. Sydney 41.2. New York 40.2, Geneva 34.7. Singapore 32.6. London 25.2. Hong Kong 20.6 and Monaco is number one with $1 million only buying you 15 sq. Meters of space.
Land has always been a very high priority in the lives of men, and most wars are fought over it. There are so many arguments and wars going on right now in the world over disputed territory.
People sell their souls for it and many families are ruined because of all the extra hours spent working to get on the property ladder at the expense of their loved ones. All for a piece of dirt that you can’t take with you when you die. Jesus brought us a few home truths in Matthew 6:25-34.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34
We get so concerned over food, clothing, possessions and land. We can even get ulcers over it, but the Lord says that if we were to seek first God’s Kingdom, He will give all these ‘thing’ thrown in as a bonus.
“Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Mark 10:28-31
Jesus says that if we surrender to Him and follow His Ways He can even give us homes and real estate. If you don’t understand the principle of seeking first the Kingdom of God, you will live under a lot of unnecessary stress. We are meant to be pilgrims in this life, just passing through on our way to heaven, or hell depending on your belief system. The trouble is most Christians act like this life is all we are going to get.
Do you realise that you already own the most expensive real estate in all the world? Jesus said that the soul of a man is far more valuable than the whole world. What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul? In other words, your soul is of more worth than all the riches of the earth combined.
“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34 38
If our souls are so valuable, then why do we treat them so lightly as if they are nothing? Why are we so careless with this valuable piece of real estate? Jesus said that your heart or inner man is called soil.
“Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” Mark 4:13-15
Our hearts are likened to soil and we are to sow the word of God into the soil of our hearts. You may not be able to take you house or farm with you when you leave this planet but this inner piece of land you definitely will take with you when you die. We will leave with our spirit and our soul but everything else we will leave behind, including our old bodies.
People spend hours and hours developing their literal gardens when they own a property and it can increase its value. The inner man is also something you can develop while you are here on earth and there are rewards for those who develop it that last on into eternity. What you plant and develop in your inner man down here will not only bless you in this life but also in that which is to come.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23
We are told to protect or guard our hearts for it can influence the rest of our lives. What goes on inside of you can affect your life. Did you realise this? Your life is a reflection of what’s going on inside of you. It tells us in scripture that if we don’t discern the Lord’s body it makes us weak, sick and can even die before the time.
If you owned some valuable land wouldn’t you guard it? Wouldn’t you put up security fences around it. Do we diligently protect our hearts like that? Do we chase away the birds/Satan from our valuable crop? Do we pull out the weeds growing in our hearts and uproot the idols. If we were as diligent as worldly people are over the things they worship and toil over, we would have far more success spiritually. We can spend so much time building up an earthly Kingdom down here yet we can’t take any of it with us when we die.
“Children of darkness wiser than the children of light. I see people working in their gardens. Hours and hours of time.” Luke 16:8
If your heart is your most valuable piece of real estate, shouldn’t you be diligently protecting it? Weeding it regularly and chasing the birds away from the new seeds that have been sown. Getting rid of the roots of bitterness is very important. Resisting a critical spirit, gossip and pride. We have opportunities every day to resist these things from being planted in our hearts, but we don’t take this exercise seriously enough.
“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.” Hebrews 12:14-16
Evil roots can get into our hearts and also affect many other people around us, even in the Church. We can be so unteachable and if corrected or challenged about something we go around telling everyone how we have been treated and spread evil. I have seen it so often. When someone is busy criticizing others and being judgmental it’s often a smoke screen to deflect from the evil that is going on in their own hearts and lives. There are also those that consider themselves to be God’s Policemen who keep telling everyone what they should and should not be doing. We need to be careful, for when we point the finger at others there are 3 fingers pointing back at us. Before we tell others what they should have or have not in their gardens we need to check our own garden. Our own hearts. The bible says to pull the plank out of your own eye before you spot the speck in another’s.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5
It doesn’t take long to locate where a person is at or what is the condition of their hearts by what is coming out of their mouths.
“Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” Matthew 15:17-20
“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Matthew 12:35-37
What is coming out of your mouth? Is it praise, life, encouragement, positive words or is it critical and negative stuff? Is it all about me and what I’m doing for Jesus or am I taking an interest in what others are doing? Our tongues can bring life or death. Did you know that life is voice activated?
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21
What is going on in your life at present? Is it health and prosperity or is it trouble and oppression? Check your tongue and you can often follow the trail back to the heart. Get alone with God and let Him do some heart surgery in you. You have a valuable piece of real estate in there that is worth looking after. Guarding it will change your life.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:7-9
If this is the case then some of us need to pray for a crop failure.
In my next message I will look at the land spoken of in the Song of Songs. It is compared to a garden that we can cultivate in such a way that it attracts the lover of our souls to come and abide.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:7-9
If this is the case then some of us need to pray for a crop failure.
In my next message I will look at the land spoken of in the Song of Songs. It is compared to a garden that we can cultivate in such a way that it attracts the lover of our souls to come and abide.