BE A GIVER OF WHAT HE GAVE YOU!
BE A GIVER OF WHAT HE GAVE YOU!
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. —Ecclesiastes 5:11
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt. — Ecclesiastes 5:13
Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. — Ecclesiastes 5:19
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. —I Timothy 6:9-10
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” —Luke 12:14-21
Are you living for retirement? Then you are not living! If this is the focus of life is to have enough money to retire with, then what are you doing with your life now? How are you using wealth now? There is nothing wrong with preparing for a time in life where there is change in life focus, but to be so engrossed in it, to be consumed in it to the point of a love to make money for fear of not having enough to live well is like the rich fool mentioned above. He had enough to meet his needs, but he wanted a whole lot more to retire, take it easy and be merry. That was his focus. He wanted to make sure that he has enough to do this for many years to come. That was his life’s focus and it was not on living for God in the present. The rich fool’s plan ended in an unexpected, early death. Who would then get what he prepared for himself? He was rich toward himself, but not toward God. What about us?
How about us? Are we rich toward ourselves, but not toward God? Are we hording all our wealth for “retirement” years? Or, are we rich toward God and using His wealth to serve others?
The love of money does not satisfy. I heard a quotation once — John D. Rockerfeller was asked “How much money is enough money?” He replied, “Just a little bit more.” Those whose focus is on money never have enough and it is evil to keep wealth when there are so many around us in need, physically and spiritually. Wealth is to be enjoyed now by us and toward others. This is God’s gift to us. May we be wise in the use of the resources He has given us. We will give an account to Him one day. Freely you have received, freely give.
Dear Father help me to be wise in the use of the resources You have given me. May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLX83HbefrI&list=RDwsQ58qn7G_4&index=9