True Riches

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