"Who said riches are desirable anyway? With riches come infinite complexities with life." - John MacArthur
We buy into everything. The big house. The new expensive car. The condo on the beach. The new DVD out this week. The bigger TV or just the stuff we place on a shelf or hang in our closets. Daily we are blasted with media telling us we need to have the new, the upgraded, the thing that we just can't live without. And we gauge our lives on what we own, how big our bank accounts are, and what more we can do to show off the things and the wealth that we do have. And when we haven't obtained the level at which we can acquire things we want materially, we open credit card accounts, take on second and third mortgages, and borrow ourselves into financial suicide.
Today's national financial crisis is based upon this very idea. That we have for so long borrowed so much just to have more and more that we think we must have, that we have borrowed ourselves into a hole we can no longer climb out of. At least not climb out of without losing substantial amounts of the stuff we thought all along would make us happy in the first place.
God has addressed this issue as He has everything else in life through His word. Perhaps sometime in your life you have heard the phrase "Money is the root of all evil." This phrase has its source in the Bible (1 Timothy Chapter 6, Verse 10,) and although it has different applications for a variety of situations, it ultimately means that there is no kind of evil, no kind of sin, that could not be the result of loving money. People will do anything to possess it. And no matter how much you may have, if attaining it is your focus in life, you will never be content. Never be truly satisfied.
The Hard Truth is that money cannot follow you into the next life. It and all it can do is a prisoner of this world. It can not follow you into eternity, and it and everything in the world is really not ours anyway.
As a Christian, consciously realize that the Lord is the owner of everything you have. Realize that if you are not willing to place money and material possessions in their proper perspective, they will place you in theirs. Take a moment an look through your checkbook and see where your heart really finds its satisfaction.
Is that satisfaction in knowing God and seeking Him and His glory for the eternal reward that moth cannot devour, rust cannot destroy and thief cannot break in and steal?
Is there a deeper discontent within you that fuels the desire for money or what it can bring you?
Should we not spend our time and energy seeking the real satisfaction of seeking to use our gifts to glorify God, building up treasures in heaven where we can enjoy them eternally?
For your listening pleasure, encouragement and for more on this subject:
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