1 Tim 6:9 “But those who desire to be
rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and
harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”
The rich young ruler fell into ruin and
destruction due to his love for his wealth. (Matt 19:21) He
understood that he needed whatever it was that Jesus was teaching,
but when he was asked to “sell what you possess and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” he
left Jesus sorrowful, because he had a lot of earthly wealth that he
was not willing to let go of. I think we all have things we tend to
hold on to, and I must admit that material wealth has a certain
allure to me. Not that I've ever cared about nice clothes or big
fancy houses, I have just always wanted a Ferrari. Now I have owned
70 different vehicles that cost me $1000 or less, so as you might
imagine, it wouldn't have to be the newest and best Ferrari. In
fact, I could go buy a nice 348 right now, but that is not really the
big expense. You need a garage to keep it in, expensive tools and
the knowledge to work on it, or about $5 per mile to pay a shop to
maintain it. All of these costs add up to a very expensive hobby,
which requires a good job, a lot of hours, and results in just
another weight holding me back from serving the Lord. (Matt 6:33)
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
these things will be added to you.” Not to say that if I seek the
kingdom and righteousness of God He will reward me with a Ferrari
here on earth, but rather I will find my reward in the riches of
heaven, which is far greater than anything I can imagine. As a
practical application I am going to pray that the Lord shows me an
opportunity to give to the poor this week.
~Jeremy
I Timothy reads 6:9 reads “but
those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many
foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and
destruction.” I can’t help but be reminded of the story of
Ananias and Sapphira and their outcome when they were dishonest and
selfish with their money. This is a great warning to keep my focus on
and “take hold of that which is life indeed” [I Tim 6:17].
Proverbs has many great warnings of the trap that riches can become.
Proverbs 23:4 warns to not even consider gaining wealth, but to make
it far from my thoughts. Proverbs 28:20 contrasts a person who makes
haste to get rich fast with a faithful man. It says that the man who
desires to get rich fast will not go unpunished but that a faithful
man will abound with blessings.
Riches are always uncertain, but God
is constant and is the supplier of all things. If I overwhelm my
thoughts of what I do not have and devote my time to attaining it
then there is little room for Christ in my life. I have always been a
selfish person with my belongings, and having unbelieving roommates
in college who were overly generous and ready to share helped me to
begin to break me of this selfishness. When getting rid of most of
my worldly possessions I promised myself and God that I would begin
to process of being more generous and less concerned with money by
being willing to give my things away or share with the possibility of
never having it back. I told God that if someone had a need for
something I had that I would give it to them, no question asked. My
heart in the giving is what God really cares about, but this is of
course going to be an inward process as well. This is a big promise
to make to God because it’s an easy one to break so I would like
some accountability in that, and that I would give with a grateful
heart.
~Kristin
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