On this day in 1929 the stock market crashed.

This day was known as Black Tuesday, and it began the Great Depression, the worst economic slump in U.S. history. And this slump spread to virtually the entire industrialized world.

During the first part of this decade, the Roaring Twenties, everyone was doing very well, or so it seemed. Salaries were up and people were buying lots of stuff, especially cars. The twenties also saw a stock market boom. People were investing a lot of money, and the stock values kept increasing. Life was good until Black Tuesday.

People began to panic and banks started to fail. Some people lost all their investments and savings. Many felt desperate, and quite a few committed suicide.

Can you imagine losing everything? What a terrible feeling!

At one time in his life, the apostle Paul had a lot going for him. He was well educated, a respected member of the community, and one of the elite—the “in crowd.” And to top it off, he was seen as a very religious person. From almost any angle he looked good.

But then he met Jesus and began to see life differently. What he once thought was important, now he considered “worthless.” He willingly gave it up to follow Christ. Check out today’s passage and the surrounding verses.

It’s easy to become confused and think that money, possessions, and popularity are all important. And when we don’t get them, or worse yet we lose them, we can feel devastated. But that’s the world’s lie. Far more important are heavenly treasures and what God thinks of you. Keep your focus on Christ and his kingdom, and life will make sense.

I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ (Philippians 3:7, 8).

To Do

Get a copy of today’s newspaper or a recent magazine. Flip through it and look for evidences of what the world says is valuable. Consider the contrast to what God says is really important.

Also on this day

This is Oatmeal Day.

1863—The International Committee of the Red Cross was founded.

1945—The first ballpoint pens to be made commercially went on sale at Gimbels Department Store in New York City at the price of $12.50 each.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.