Money is something that occupies the thoughts of most people on a regular basis. The newspapers are filled with news about the stock market and other financial issues. The bookstores are filled with self-help books about how to accumulate wealth. Social media abounds with ads for “get-rich-quick” schemes. Seeing that money is an unavoidable topic of discussion, how then should Christians deal with money? Here are 3 principles for dealing with money – if you have more, I’ll be happy to hear from you too!
#1 – WORK FOR A LIVING
The Bible makes it explicitly clear that we are to work for a living. In the book of 2 Thessalonians, Paul was addressing the problem of some who were “disorderly, working not at all”. He said that:
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12)
Are you working diligently for your living, or sitting around idly waiting for “manna to drop from heaven”?
#2 – SAVE FOR THE FUTURE
In addition to working for our living, we are to ensure that we set aside a portion of what we have earned for our future needs. Solomon urged his son to learn from the example of the ant, who was tiny but wise:
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8)
Just like the ant, we need to ensure that we are “gathering food in the harvest”. The ant does not gather food merely for immediate consumption, but to stockpile for the coming winter as well, when food would be scarce. Are you saving for your future needs, or are you squandering your assets on “riotous living”, like the Prodigal Son of Luke 15?
#3 – REMEMBER ETERNITY
While it is important for a Christian to work for a living, and to save for his future, it is even more important for him to remember eternity amid all this. Money is not the be-all and end-all of everything, for there is a life yet to come. Let us not be deceived into thinking that our lives depend on the size of our bank balances or the number of properties that we own. In the parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus warned his listeners to:
…Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:15-21)
As we have seen earlier, it is necessary for a man to work for a living, and to save for the future. However, let us not be deceived into thinking that material wealth makes us spiritually rich. In the midst of your work and toil here on this earth, are you spending time working for God?
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Comentários