If you were given the opportunity to receive $5 million
dollars, would you take it? Of course, the first initial thought would be to
accept it, pay bills and buy that new television set you have been eyeing at Sam’s
club. Whatever remaining bit you have left would be for church, where it should
have been the first thing to distribute to; remember 10% goes to God. There is
always something to say about money though, good and bad. Money can make you or
break you, if you allow it of course, because it is just paper, right? People
seem to think money in general is corrupt, but it is in fact how a person
reacts to it when in their possession that reveals where that person’s heart
truly resides. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil. The love
of monetary happiness causes a separation between the Lord and each individual
person. Anything that is created by man is of the world and the attachments
there of are opposite of God and His will.
1 Timothy 6:10
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows.”
Matthew 6:19-21
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth
and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.”
I have read stories on how as soon as a person becomes rich
or receives more money than what they know what to do with, it completely sets
their life upside down. At the end of the day, should we really put the blame
on the money itself or the individual. It seems in every situation there is an
opportunity for a person to prosper, they crumble under pressure and in fact
lose their own life. Jesus speaks to us in the bible about this very thing.
Matthew 16:26
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Parable about a foolish rich man:
Luke 12:15-21
“And he said unto them, 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.”
All in all, the choices we make will determine where are
heart belongs; for God or the world. In order to truly prosper in life, you
must love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind, with doing so you will
have everything you need without the satisfaction of monetary happiness.
Luke 10:27
“And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with
all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”
Deuteronomy 6:5
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Missionary Dinah Ramos
