Money and wealth are the motivational factors that drive the world for both rich and poor. Nobody is unaffected by money.
Many Christians love to have goods and enjoy being wealthy, even though Jesus said that rich people will find it hard to enter the Kingdom of God. An argument that is often used is that God’s servants in the Old Testament, such as Abraham and Jacob, were wealthy. This is true, but they did accomplish the purposes for which they were called, namely glorifying the Lord by their faith. The Old Testament, however, also recorded the lives of prophets like Elijah and Elisha who seemed to have lived by faith, and the wealth of the New Testament people of God was shared with others.
If we return to the comparison between the Old Testament Israel and the New Testament church (as per last posting), it seems that physical wealth in the Old Testament should be related to spiritual wealth in the New Testament - a treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:21-34). Does that mean that we cannot own material goods?
The secret is to be rich toward God. If we read the passage below we’ll clearly see what the Lord Jesus referred to when He so often warned against the perils of wealth.
“And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God (Luke 12:16-21).’”
Were you able to see the attitude of the rich man? He did it for himself, didn’t he? What is in your heart? Do you praise the Lord for your wealth, but spend it on yourself? Do you really need all that you possess? What gets the most attention from you; your impressive possessions or the impression you make on God?
How about the passage: “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you (Luke 6:38).” Doesn’t this give us a license to be rich? It refers to eternal riches – a heavenly treasure. Everyone should give away what they’ve been given as per Romans 12:6-8. The more you give, the more you’ll receive to give again. If I keep on giving away this knowledge that the Lord gives me, He’ll keep refilling the source and in the end my treasure in heaven grows. A Christian gifted to create wealth would probably be gifted for giving (Romans 12:8). The more they give, the more they’ll receive to give again and in heaven they’ll have a treasure. George Muller managed millions of pounds, but owned little. Financial wealth is not meant for self gratification, but to provide for God’s Kingdom.
Holy Spirit, please convict me of wealth that I don’t need, which keep me poor towards God.
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