Worry has a way of chasing after us. It tries to grab hold of us, bleed off our energy, and rob us of joy by limiting our vision to a short-sighted perspective of this life's circumstances. That's why one of my favorite passages is Matthew 6:19-34, where Jesus unveils an investment formula for a secure future and a worry-free present.

A few years ago, my wife Nanci showed me an article she had found in her Family Circle magazine. The article was titled "What You Pass On." It was written by author Stephen King. He's not a writer known for his theological insights, but what he wrote echoes the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 5:15 in his assessment of the futility of materialism.

There was once a time in the early years of our faith when we couldn’t get enough. We had a voracious hunger for truth. We lived with the humbling realization that there was so much we didn’t know. We loved to study the Word of God. We loved listening to peers and mentors who were further along. We were students.