Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Heartless Money

But in the long run it is perhaps even more apparent in our growing--for it ought to be growing--awareness that our whole being by its very nature is one vast need; incomplete, preparatory, empty yet cluttered, crying out for Him who can untie things that are now knotted together and tie up things that are still dangling loose.
C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
Read
Ecclesiastes 6:1-6. Take a few minutes and write down your initial thoughts on this section. As you look back at the verses, what leads you to write these things?
Think
Let's remember where Solomon is coming from: born in the palace to King David and his wife Bathsheba (a whole other story), 3rd king of Israel, offered anything his heart desired, chose wisdom, given riches as well, reigned in peace and prosperity, made treaties with surrounding nations, had hundreds of wives and concubines, led into idolatry by his wives, finally, his sons subverted his authority and split the kingdom. Solomon looks back over his life and writes his memoir, lessons learned throughout his life, and sees the evil of heartless money: Riches given by God but not enjoyed.
Chapter 5 ends with the value of recognizing God as the true giver of our material possessions and as the only One who gives us the ability to enjoy them. Even though we may recognize God as our provider, if we use our money and possessions to satisfy our own desires without regard to stewardship and generosity, our wealth becomes heartless and empty.
In verses 3-6, Solomon gives us 2 pictures of the emptiness of heartless money. First, we see a man who lives a long life, fathers a hundred children, but his family doesn't care enough about him to give him a proper burial. Second, a miscarriage. Both are painful, but Solomon says that the miscarriage is better. Life without God and meaning is worse than never having been born at all.
On the other hand, life with God is deeply satisfying, whether one has little or much. It's not the years in life but the life in the years. Only God can give us the wisdom to know what to do with what we have.
David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth
Pray
Ask God to help you find true enjoyment in life. Pray that He will help you live well, as a good steward of the possessions He gave you.
Do
Spend some extra time with your family this week. Of all the things that aid in the enjoyment of life, good family relationships top the list. Fix dinner together and eat around the table, take your wife out on a date, roll on the floor with your kids, play a game that you all enjoy, anything that will enhance your family life. Money, work, and success are all meaningless without good family relationships.

Friday, May 1, 2009

5 Things to Know About Money

For this post, I can't say it any better than Dr. Jeremiah in his book, Searching for Heaven on Earth. So here are some excerpts from chapter 13, "Dollars and Sense". As you read, pray that God would help you to adjust your thinking about money and its importance in your life.

Read and Think

Five Things We Should Know About Money
1- The more we have, the more we want.
He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Wouldn't it be wonderful to be truly content? To be eased of the burden for more accumulation, and to be at peace with where we are in life? Why do we make ourselves miserable over what has no track record of satisfying?
2-The more we have, the more we spend.
When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the owners
Except to see them with their eyes?
Ecclesiastes 5:11
The more you have, the more you want. The more you want, the more you spend. The more you spend, the more you need. The more you need, the more you have to have. Stop the world--I want to get off!
3-The more we have, the more we worry.
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich
Will not permit him to sleep.
Ecclesiastes 5:12
When money is your shield and bulwark, you'll spend all your time worrying about what will happen if you lose your shield. Thankfully, my Shield and Protector is One who has already said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
4- The more we have, the more we lose.
There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:
Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
But those riches perish through misfortune.
Ecclesiastes 5:13-14
Let me be clear on this point, because it's easy to misunderstand what Solomon is saying. The essence of his message is this: You can't lose what you don't have.
5- The more we have, the more we leave behind.
When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return,
To go as he came;
And he shall take nothing from his labor
Which he may carry awah in his hand.
And this also is a sever evil--
Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.
And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?
All his days he also eats in darkness,
And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.
Ecclesiastes 5:14-17
We all know the modern translation of this one: You can't take it with you.
Two Things You Need to Know About God
1- Our ability to earn money is a gift from God.
Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink,
and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the
Days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.
Ecclesiastes 5:18
Solomon says you've worked for what you have, so go ahead and enjoy it...But remember that every gift is from God, and those gifts are not ends in themselves,but reminders of His goodness.
2- Our ability to enjoy money is a gift from God
As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the deays fo his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
Ecclesiastes 5:19-20
God gives us not only the gift, but also the ability to enjoy it, the food and the mouth to eat it, the art and the mind to appreciate it, the beautiful earth and the feet to run upon it. Every component of life, down to the smallest molecule, is part of His gift. But we cannot enjoy any gift properly without reference to the Giver.
God is a loving and generous Father, but He doesn't want our things to possess us. What a joy to learn the lesson Rockefeller learned: money and possessions are not evil as long as they don't enslave us. Instead of destroying lives, wealth can serve the kingdom of God. Every good and perfect gift comes from God and has a good and perfect use. As long as we can find it and honor it, we honor Him. And we are one step closer to heaven on earth, rather than one foot deeper into the golden mirage of a fool's paradise.