In America, we are so blessed with an abundance of material goods. The definition of abundance is to have a very large amount of something. Americans have more than the vast majority of the people on earth. We are wealthier than 99% of the world’s population. Yet, every day I hear people grumble and complain because they don’t have enough money. Even if you are homeless, and have no job in America, there are organizations that will help you. Do you have to follow their rules to get help? Yes, but rules are a part of life. If you want money you have to follow the rules of those handing it out, whether it be an employer, a charity, or the government.
We usually don’t feel we have an abundance because we want more than our income will provide. We look around, and base our wants on what others have, and somehow feel we’ve been deprived because we don’t have them. We have ceased to be thankful for what we have, and have become greedy. God has blessed all of us, but we seem to forget how much. If you are reading this, you already qualify as wealthier than those in third-world countries. Yet, our abundance has somehow caused us to crave more.
In I Timothy 6:10, Paul talks about the love of money. Please understand, money is not the problem, it is the love of it. It takes money to spread the gospel, feed our families, show hospitality to others, and on and on we could go. It is the love of it, where we get into trouble. No, not the green stuff itself, but the things it can buy. The lottery has become a big deal in the United States. Billions of dollars are spent yearly on lottery tickets. Why? Because people love the thought of getting rich, quick, without having to work for it. It’s the love of money that allows gambling to prosper.
I Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
The love of money is what is at the root of a multitude of crimes. Money can be used for good, but the abundance of it can cause us to want to feed the lust of the flesh. It feeds the pride of life also. It feeds the covetous soul and draws people away from depending on God.
From the last two paragraphs, you may say this doesn’t apply to me, but I think it is a sin we all need to guard against. Do you find yourself wishing you had more money? Do you dream about what it would be like to be able to buy whatever you wanted? Ask yourself this question. If my boss offered me triple pay to work Sunday morning, while I should be in church, what would you tell him? We can rationalize all you want to, but try telling God you chose money over worship. Tell God you were not satisfied with what He could provide for you. Tell Him the truth He already knows, that you don’t trust Him with your future. I know this sounds cold and hard, but so much of the time we read verses like this and think it doesn’t apply to us. We need to think it through and examine our own hearts.
It is not a sin to have money. God blessed Abraham with much wealth. Job was a very wealthy man whom God trusted to chose Him, above his wealth and comfort. It is our view of the riches, and what we would do with them, that gets us in trouble.
If God were to bless you with a few million, what would you do? Would you stop work and become a lazy Christian? Would you hire everything done, just because you could? Proverbs has much to say about the sin of laziness. Maybe, your goal is to vacation for weeks on end. Will you miss church? Will you cease to serve in a local body? Maybe you wouldn’t, maybe you will use your resources to bless others, to show hospitality, to share God’s word with others. The later would be great and honoring to God. However, if you are not already using what God has blessed you with for His glory, there is a very good chance you won’t use the wealth for that either. Matthew 25:29 gives us the principle of God’s attitude toward those who use whatever he has placed in their hands for His glory. Those He will bless more. However, others who use what they have simply for their own pleasure he will take away.
Matthew 25:29 “For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”
Proverbs 6:6 “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:”
Proverbs 6:9-11 “How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”
Think it through, and start today using all that God has placed in your hands for His glory. It’s all His anyway, but He has entrusted you as His child, to use it wisely to glorify Him.
Colossians 3:17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
