What is God’s position towards our money and possessions?
Does God want us to be poor or to be rich? Does the Bible address such things?
Patriarchs including Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon and Job were all very
wealthy. Yet, Jesus said it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Is material wealth good or bad?
Psalm 112:1–3 declares, “Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his
commandments! 2His offspring
will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3Wealth and riches are in his house, and
his righteousness endures forever.” Proverbs 3:9–10 reads, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first
fruits of all your produce; 10then
your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with
wine.” So it is possible to be righteous and wealthy.
Ed Douglas in his book Money
Marathon-7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom states, “Money is a tool we
use in our lives to help us fulfill our purpose. Money is not an end; it is a
means to an end. Money will never make a person happy; however, a lack of money
can go a long way in making one unhappy.” We need to have a healthy attitude
toward money.
Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world
and those who dwell therein.” In Haggai 2:8 we find, “’The silver is mine, and
the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.” If the earth and everything in
it belongs to God, then we are simple mangers of the money and assets in our
possession.
Jesus told a story as such in Luke 16. In the story it is
reported to a rich man that his manager is wasting his money and possessions.
The money should have been used to bless others and to glorify the owner. The
key to the passage is faithfulness. The money and possessions allotted to us is
a matter of trust. Our money is entrusted to us by God and should be used to
his glory not for our glory. Without faithfulness we will be torn between two
masters. Jesus said that if one cannot handle unrighteous wealth, he then
couldn’t be trusted with true riches. If one has not been faithful in that
which is another’s, who will give his that which is his own? No servant can
serve two masters. A person cannot serve God and money.
Money can be used to obtain true wealth. Our money can be
used to bless others. The most valuable commodity on earth is people. If our
money is used to help people, then our money has been used for its greatest
purpose. N. T. Wright said, “As soon as we begin to think of money, or land, or
other people, as commodities we might own or exploit, we take a step away from
our vocation to be truly human beings, God’s true children, and towards the
other master, who is always ready to accept new servants.”
Wealth is not a sin, but it can be a problem. We find a
good answer to this problem in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, “As for the rich in this
present age, charge them not to be haughty, not to set their hopes on the
uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to
enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready
to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the
future, so that they may hold of that with is truly life.”
Peace,
Stan
