What Happened to My Money?

I know the drill; on the job every morning by 8:00 AM and off by 5:00 PM. During those hours you are selling a portion of your life for the sake of earning a few dollars. In spite of all your best efforts, the money you earn is never enough. Personally, I believe there is a think-tank of people who figure out all the ways of prying that hard earned dollar out of your hands. Even in the days of the Judges in Israel, about 3200 years ago, men would labor for wages. The Book of Ruth 2:4 we have Boaz greeting his workers… “And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.” Boaz was a great boss to ask the LORD to bless his workers! Life back then was not entangled with the trivia we live with today. No computers, cell phones, Facebook, twitter, internet, and an overwhelming amount of worthless news. Perhaps there is a lesson in that. Today, our money seems to evaporate quickly. Money is very difficult to earn and too easy to spend. I’ve heard it said “we buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t even know.” Simply put, our lives are literally filled with unnecessary stuff. Hag 1:5-6 “Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” The writer of Proverbs gives these words of wisdom in Proverbs 23:4-5 “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” Jesus encouraged a more spiritual approach in 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.” There is certainly nothing wrong with having wealth. The problem is when wealth comes between your soul and God. There is a greater thought in all this: God created the man in three parts; body, soul, and spirit. Of these, God places the greatest value on the soul. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden it forever impacted the place of the soul with God: The soul died spiritually. Everything God provided for the salvation of the soul is more important than any earthly riches you might obtain. Remember when Jesus said in Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Jesus knows full well that you must earn a living to pay for food, shelter, and clothing. He also knows you might make an investment which could provide a return to your advantage. But more importantly, take care of your soul. As King David said in Psalm 62:1 “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation.” The riches will take care of themselves. Remember the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 6:30-33 “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” See you in church. --- Bro. Louis