DAY 144 - There Is Something To Be Said For Having Money

Deuteronomy 8:7-9, 16-17 (NASB)  ⁷"For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; ⁸a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; ⁹a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. ¹⁶"In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. ¹⁷"Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.'

Luke 12:16-21 (NASB) ¹⁶And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷"And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' ¹⁸"Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'  ²⁰"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' ²¹"So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Money will not buy you health, but it will help you have good health insurance. Money will not buy happiness, but it can help the family take a good vacation. Money will not buy you security, but it can provide a comfortable home to live in. It is not that God wants us to join the life style of the rich and famous, but God is concerned about our need for money. There is something to be said for having money, but God wants more for us than a life-draining struggle to make a living. 

Like good parents who express their love in generously providing for their children, so God wants to express His love for us. Do we believe that? Do we believe in our soul that God wants to provide generously for us? Or do we throw up a smoke screen that clouds our vision so that we do not see or sense God’s generosity toward us? Lest we forget, Jesus told about a man who forgot and believed that his wealth came from his own power and the might of his own hand. Jesus is saying that literally these things will require your soul. These things are going to rob you of your life.

God is generous. God wants us to have. God wants to give to us in abundance. Richness toward God is a deep awareness of and an abiding confidence in the generosity of God, regardless of what is going on with us at the moment. Richness toward God is a confidence in the soul. We have evidence, if we have the faith to see it. Most of us have some experience of God’s goodness and generosity and know that is the way God wants life to be for us.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope November 7, 1999

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles