3 Vital Verses
By: Kristen L. McNulty
Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
If there are three verses in the Bible we need to pay a lot of attention to, these three are up there on the list. Why? Because they summarize what our priorities should be in life, in our careers, and even with how we view and spend our money.
The verses are found in Matthew chapter six. Let's pick up at verse 19 where Jesus said:
Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:19-21
Where Is Our Treasure?
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be. So that leaves you and I with the need to ask ourselves a vital question: where is our treasure? What are the desires of our heart?
Is our greatest treasure and desires the kingdom of God? Pouring ourselves into the things He would have us do. Like serving the poor, building the kingdom, going all in on ministry? Or are our treasures taking us to darker places? Where we are more about money than ministry, about our possessions over our passion for Christ?
A few verses later we are warned sternly,
No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. Matthew 6:24
You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. So what does it mean to be enslaved to money? Again it goes back to the question where is our treasure? Asking ourselves what place does money have in our lives? To try and get down to the bottom of it, let's ask ourselves a few questions.
Questions We Need To Ask
When we choose our job, did we choose it because we knew God was calling us to it or because we wanted either the prestige or pay check that came with it?
When we go to work, are we there to be God's salt and light in that place? Or are we there to get enough hours by pay day?
When pay day does arrive, what do we do with the money we get? Do we use it to simply cover our needed expenses and then seek to bless others with it? Or do we use it to lavishly spend on ourselves, buying up one possession after another?
When Sunday rolls around, do we put a significant percentage of what we make in the offering plate so we can fund the work of the gospel in our community? Or do we give the bare minimum so we won't look badly or so we can claim a deduction at tax time?
We aren't called to live just like the world, accumulating more and more in a pursuit of keeping up with our neighbors or establishing wealth for ourselves. That is not a biblical lifestyle in the least. No, the life Jesus calls us to doesn't mean we are a pauper necessarily, but it does mean that we view our money not as ours to spend, but as His for us to give and invest into His kingdom. Again let's revisit verse 24.
No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. Matthew 6:24
Avoiding A Tragedy
Think that's just one verse in the Bible? Think again. Jesus spoke more about money than He did about faith and prayer combined. I get the desire to skip over them all and pretend they don't exist so we can just go back to living the way we want to. But what a tragedy that would be! To spend 50, 60, 70, 80, or 90 years on this earth living the good life while building up nothing to show for it when we arrive in heaven for eternity. Because one day we will stand before God and have to answer for our lives here on this earth. And what a poor investment we will have made for our lives if all we have to show for our time on this earth is investments and possessions that rot and rust away.
When we get to heaven it isn't going to matter if we drove a BMW. The square footage of our houses on earth will seem silly in that moment. The amount in our retirement account or 401k will be gone. All that will matter is who we loved on in this life, how we spent the money God blessed us with, and who is standing in heaven for eternity because of what we did to help get them there. That matters. That's a mission that is worth tossing aside all the riches that this world can offer us for.
And when we do so, when we focus on building the kingdom of God instead of the kingdom of bank account, God provides. We don't have to worry about the details when we focus on living the way He's called us to. We can trust He will take care of us.
What Jesus Teaches About Money
That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:25-33
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