The Crash

What happened in 1929 when the stock market crashed? After reading about it these are a few facts I found out. A vice president of the Earl Radio Corporation jumped to his death from the window of a Manhattan hotel. His suicide note read, "We are broke. Last April I was worth $100,000. Today I am $24,000 in the red." This happened in early October, weeks before the crash. The wife of a Long Island broker shot herself in the heart; a utilities executive in Rochester, New York, shut himself in his bathroom and opened a wall jet of illuminating gas; a St. Louis broker swallowed poison; a Philadelphia financier shot himself in his athletic club; a divorcee in Allentown, Pennsylvania, closed the doors and windows of her home and turned on a gas oven. In Milwaukee, one gentleman who took his own life left a note that read, 'My body should go to science, my soul to Andrew W. Mellon, and sympathy to my creditors.' This all happened because stock prices had been on the rise, they gained the reputation of being a safe way to invest. Many investors believed stocks were their ticket to riches. A great number of investors were purchasing stock on the margin, meaning they put 10% of the investment down and borrowed the remaining 90%. For example, if $10 worth of stock were purchased, the investor put in $1, while the mortgage broker put in the other $9. It was a good deal as long as stocks were gaining value. However, if the stock lost value, the stockbroker would issue a margin call requiring the investor to pay back the loan. In the example above, not only did the investor lose the $1 he invested, he also had to pay back the $9 he'd borrowed. At this time many people had put their hope in and about tomorrow for which the Bible warns us not to do. Proverbs 27:1
Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. In Luke chapter 12 we find a man who did just that; let's look at him for a moment. We read of a man who was already rich but we also see he was not happy with what he already had.

Luke 12:16
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
The thing we notice is he wants more which caused his mind to ask questions.

Luke 12:17
And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Then he began to talk to himself and answer himself

Luke 12:18
And he said, this will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
All this man had on his mind was himself; eat drink and be merry.

Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Was this good farmer living for today with tomorrow in view? Be careful about tomorrows view for I have heard others say only ___ more years until I retire then I'll be able to do_____. Is this not what that farmer was doing? God has allowed us to see what tomorrow beheld for this man and what God called him because of his thought pattern.

Luke 12:20
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: (no tomorrow) then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? This man didn't jump out a window but he got the same results thinking tomorrow will be better than today; you can't live tomorrow today. The Lord has already told us don't brag about tomorrow but He has told us to live for today. Matthew 6:11
Give us this day our daily bread.
Give us tomorrows? No, no, no! This day, today that's all you and I need to be concerned about, not tomorrow for when tomorrow comes it will be today. When I was a child I would pray "'now I lay me down to sleep if I should die"…. There's the possibility we might not be here tomorrow so live today and enjoy it for one day it will be your last. Have a great day and a great week.