Thursday, April 1, 2010

The Earth Is the Lord's

There are so many stations on TV today that are devoted to telling a person how they can get rich, how they can get more wealth, and there are so many people who are taken in by these schemes. It is a sadness how gullible we are and how our focus is all wrong.

Yesterday, I came across a scripture that reminded me that the Bible is very specific about God's view about money, how we are to acquire money, how we should give money, and how we should spend money. There are over 2,000 scriptures on the subject of money and instructions about finances. Why is that? Because money plays an important role in our lives. Understanding God's viewpoint on our possessions can prevent us from making costly mistakes.

Psalm 24:1 says this: "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it."

Now this is pretty solid. Everything belongs to God; we belong to God. Everything we own, our possessions, are a gift from God. In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon who had all the riches in the world, wrote, "whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 5:10) He said it was all meaningless. Solomon had everything a man desired and still he was never content.

We always want more than we have. Solomon observed that those who love money and seek it obsessively never find the happiness it promises. Wealth also attracts freeloaders and thieves, causes sleeplessness and fear, and ultimately ends in loss because it must be left behind. No matter how much you earn, if you try to create happiness by accumulating wealth, you will never have enough.

It is important to remember that even though God blesses us with the health and ability to make money, He is still the source and owner of all wealth.

This psalm also reminds us that we are only stewards or caretakers of what God allows us to own. We should be committed to the proper management of this world and its resources, but we are not to become devoted to anything created or act as sole proprietors because this world will pass away. (1 John 2:17)

Wealth is temporary. You can gain so much wealth and be very prosperous, but in your lifetime on earth, you may never have an opportunity to enjoy it. It will go to someone else to spend after all your hard work to gain it.

Now money in itself isn't wrong, but loving money leads to all sorts of sin. Whatever financial situation you are in, don't depend on money to make you happy. Instead use what you have for the Lord.

1 John 2:17 says, "the world and its desires will pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

When our attachment to possessions is strong, it's hard to believe that what we want will one day pass away. It may be even harder to believe that the person who does the will of God will live forever. Knowing that this evil world and our desires will end should give us courage to control our greedy and self-indulgent behavior and to continue doing God's will.

God desires for us to have the money we need. We not necessarily be rich by the world's standards, but when we are doing God's will by being generous, the Lord will provide for us. God will provide us with money for food, clothing, and other basic needs.

Dr. Charles Stanley stated in one of his sermons that we should be careful because "financial blessings can turn into a snare if we aren't careful." Many of the proverbs warns us not to wear ourselves out to become rich because wealth is often fleeting. (Proverbs 23:4-5)

God enables us to enjoy His blessings each day we wake up, so give and share with others, that way you are doing the will of God. When we share our abundance with others, God blesses us with more.

Thought for Today: Money has specific purposes and one of those purposes is to build up the Kingdom of God.



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