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November 2009
“The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1)
“God Owns It All” is the chapter heading in a book by a Christian author who presents this chapter first as the foundation for money management and giving.
God does own it all! That is the teaching of Psalm 14:1 which says, “The earth is the Lord’s.” Psalm 50:10 says that all of the beasts of the field belong to God, and that the cattle on a thousand hills are His. Haggai 2:8 says that God even owns the silver and gold in all the mines.
Now, He allows us to use what rightfully belongs to Him, but God continues to retain the ownership. We are managers and stewards of what God has entrusted to us. Someday, when we stand before Him, we shall give an account of what kind of job we have done in managing the resources which God has allowed us to use.
That’s why every spending decision becomes a spiritual decision. Every time we use some of God’s money, we are making a decision which has eternal ramifications.
Are you using money and possessions as if they belong to you, or are you making spending decisions with the full realization that is all belongs to God?
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December 2009
Paul gave an admonition to his son in the faith, Timothy, in First Timothy 6:10: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Notice that he did not say that money is evil, or that having money is evil. He simply instructed Timothy that loving money is a root of all kinds of evil, or as some translations say, “The love of money is the root of all evil.”
When we view money in an incorrect manner, it is usually in one of two areas. First, we view it as something that belongs to us. As we observed in previous presentations, money is something that God has entrusted to us. It all belongs to Him. We are simply managers and stewards of what is rightfully His.
Second, we view money incorrectly when we trust in it, when we place our hope and our confidence in it.
Steve Mizerany once owned several appliance stores in St. Louis. He zipped around those stores on roller skates, shouting out to customers his well-known slogan: “Don’t be confused.” That’s good advice when it comes to buying appliances or when it comes to a right view of money. Don’t be confused! Money can buy a house, but not a home. Money can purchase medicine, but not health. Money can buy a companion, but not a friend. Money cannot buy happiness. Money cannot buy contentment. Money does not bring peace or joy. Money cannot purchase eternal life or even a moment more of this life. Money is simply a means to an end.
Solomon’s advice concerning money was simple and to the point as expressed in Proverbs 4:23, where he said, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” It is the attitude of the heart that matters when it comes to money. You see, if we are trusting in money, it becomes a focal point in our life. It becomes the center of our attention, the single most important facet of our life.
That’s why Jesus admonished His listeners to seek first the kingdom of God, for when we do that, the material needs of life will be provided. That’s why the Apostle Paul urged Christians to set their “minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” — like money.
What is your view of money? Is it the center of your life? Do you spend your time and attention thinking about money, scheming how to get more money, planning what you would do if you had more money, or worrying about how to get more money in the future? Or, are you seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, with the expectation that God will provide your needs? Remember the admonition of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 6:21 — “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
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January 2010
The amount of money we have is determined by God.
"But remember the Lord your God, for it is he
who gives you power to get wealth” (Deut. 8:18).
“But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth” (Deut. 8:18).
The amount of money we have is determined by God. According to His wisdom and sovereignty, God has placed each of us at some point on the economic spectrum. He has entrusted some people with considerable wealth; to others, He has provided lesser amounts.
The Bible does not assume that it is wrong for people to make money, but rather, it clearly states that God allows people to earn money. Solomon said that money is one of God’s many gifts to mankind. In fact, in Ecclesiastes 5, Solomon said that God wants us to enjoy the fruit of our labor, namely, money which we have earned and the things it can buy.
David expressed it this way in his prayer recorded in the 29th chapter of First Chronicles: “Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.”
When you stop to think about it, Christians have a great thing going when it comes to money. According to this passage and to other scriptures, God gives us the power and ability to get wealth. He provides the energy, the stamina, the mental and physical ability, the creative juices, and whatever else it takes for us to earn a living. As we saw recently, since God owns everything, He is actually enabling us to earn that which is rightfully His.
What is really great about God’s plan from our perspective is that He then provides a blessing to us for giving back to Him what was His in the first place! Sometimes the prayer offered before our church offering is received includes the thought that we are only giving back to God a portion of what He has given us. That prayer is very scriptural, for in the First Chronicles passage, David said, “For all things come from you, and of your own we have given you.”
In reality, then, there is no such thing as a self-made man or woman. As the Apostle Paul so clearly asked the believers at Corinth, “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor. 4:7). This morning as you give to God, remember the source of your funds. Yes, you did your part by working and by laboring by “the sweat of your brow,” but in reality, God gave you the ability to get money.
And as the old chorus by Wendell Loveless asks, “After all He’s done for me, After all He’s done for me, How can I do less than give Him my best, And live for Him completely, After all He’s done for me?”
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February 2010
God grants to people the ability to earn that
which is His already: money and wealth.
“Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all.
In your hand are power and might;
and it is in your hand to make great
and to give strength to all” (1 Chron. 29:12).
“Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil — this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19).
According to James 1:17, every good gift has an identical source: God. A contemporary translation expresses this verse in the following way: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows.”
Unfortunately, people often twist and pervert God’s good gifts. For example, the appetite for food is a gift of God, but some allow this gift to become a reason for existence rather than the means by which they exist. Money is another gift from God that frequently is twisted and abused.
In Ecclesiastes 5:19, Solomon spelled out God’s intention with respect to money. First, as we have mentioned previously, all that we have belongs to God. We are to view money in that context. Second, God desires us to work for what we have. Third, when we do so, we will be rewarded. For most of us, that means a paycheck of one sort or another. And fourth, we are to enjoy the fruit of our labor. Money certainly is a primary means of enjoying all that we have worked for.
But money is a means to an end. It is not an end in itself. When it becomes our goal, when we work only for money, when we are obsessed with money or what it will buy, then we have twisted one of God’s good gifts and misused it.
How do you view money? Is money an end, a goal, in and of itself? Or is it a means to an end? You see, how you answer that question will in large measure determine how you give to God. If money is an end in and of itself, you will not give as freely as you will give if you view it as a means to an end, especially the overall goal in the Christian life to glorify God in all that we do.
That, my friend, just may be the main reason God gives us the ability to earn money. Yes, He wants us to enjoy it. Certainly, He wants us to use it as one of His good gifts. But maybe — just maybe — one of the main ways He desires us to enjoy it is to give it away, especially to His work.
Once, a church officer called on a member of his church concerning his attendance. The member complained that he had quit coming to church because all the church ever did was ask for money. The other man replied, “When my son was a boy, he was like that. He was very costly. He always wanted money for school books and lunches, and he always needed new shoes and clothes. The older he grew, the more I had to spend on him. But he hasn’t cost me anything in the last year.” “Why not?” the member asked. “He died a year ago, and since then, he’s not cost me anything.” The church officer concluded, “A live church will always need money. Dead ones seldom do.”
How do you view money today? As an end in itself, or as a means to an end?
March 2010
Money is one of God's gifts to people.
“Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil — this is the gift of God” (Eccl. 5:19).
Solomon, who penned this verse, was one of the wisest people who ever lived. When Solomon succeeded his father, David, as King of Israel, God said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Many of us would have answered differently than Solomon did. We would have asked for wealth, for beauty, for possessions or for material things of some sort.
Solomon asked God for wisdom and knowledge so that he might properly rule over the nation of Israel. And because he did not ask for riches or wealth, God gave them — as well as wisdom and knowledge — to him in abundance.
One of the areas in which Solomon’s wisdom was prevalent was in the matter of wealth. That’s why in our text for today from Ecclesiastes 5:19, Solomon describes wealth and the enjoyment of wealth as a gift from God. As we have seen in previous presentations, God grants mankind the ability to earn that which belongs to God Himself: money and wealth. But then He goes a step further and proclaims through His servant, Solomon, that we are to enjoy this provision, for both the wealth and the enjoyment thereof are a gift of God.
Some people, of course, carry their enjoyment to an extreme. They abuse their wealth, this gift of God, by thinking that their enjoyment is all that matters. They excel in the enjoyment of their wealth to such an extent that they forget the foundational principle that all that we do — including using our money — is to bring glory to God.
A pastor once was encouraging his congregation to give, and he said that some present that morning could not give. The reason, he said, was that they had left God’s money at the shopping mall. In other words, they had placed their desires and their pleasure before what they should have given to God and to their church.
How do you view money today? Do you realize it comes from God, that just as He gave to Solomon of old, He also gives to you? And in your use of the wealth that God has entrusted to you, are you glorifying Him?
As you consider how to glorify God through your money and wealth, and as you consider the offering this morning, remember the words of missionary Jim Elliot, who was martyred in 1956 by the Auca Indians in South America:
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
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April 2010
If you read annual reports from publicly held companies or banks, you will frequently see the word “fiduciary.” Fiduciary is used as an adjective to describe something which is held in trust. It is also used as a noun to describe the one who is a trustee who must account for that which is held in trust.
For example, a bank president has a fiduciary responsibility to stockholders in the bank and to depositors who place their money in the bank. A company treasurer has a fiduciary responsibility to the owners of the company. A payroll clerk has a fiduciary responsibility to pay people what they have earned.
You may never have considered yourself a fiduciary, and you may never have acted officially in a fiduciary capacity, but in reality, you are a fiduciary. All of us are. That applies both to Christians and to those who are not part of God’s family through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We who are Christians will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. There, we will not be judged for salvation, since the penalty and judgment for sin was settled once and for all on the cross of Calvary when the Lord Jesus paid the price for our sin. Instead, when we stand before Christ, we will give an account of how we have used what God has entrusted to us.
Just as a bank president must account to stockholders and depositors on how their funds are used, we must account to Christ for how we have used what God has entrusted to us. Since everything we have rightfully belongs to Him, we will need to report on how we have managed His assets!
As you consider how you have used what God has entrusted to your care and keeping during the past few months, what kind of job have you done? And more importantly, as a “fiduciary” of what God has placed in your hands, will you stand before Him with joy, eager to report on your giving and management of His assets?
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May 2010
A wise person once observed, “Half of any task is having the right tool, and the other half is knowing what to do with it.” Although we don’t often consider it as such, money is a tool which God uses in our lives as a means of spiritual growth.
You see, money is not an end in and of itself. It is a means to an end. And in God’s hands, one of its primary “ends” is to instruct us and to help us grow spiritually. God especially wants us to avoid our natural tendency which is a bent toward selfishness, greed, and hoarding. That’s why the Lord Jesus said, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15).
Well, if an individual’s life does not consist in having a lot of possessions, in what does it consist? Jesus provided an insightful answer to that question in Matthew 6:20-21, where He said, “ . . . store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Now, according to Jesus’ teaching in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25), there is nothing wrong with saving. There is nothing wrong with investing or earning interest on investments. There is nothing wrong with being a wise steward by planning for the future. In fact, Jesus taught that those who do so are to be commended. But our primary emphasis as God’s children is to make our investments in the “Bank of Heaven.” When we do that, our investments are secure. They are not affected by inflation, by theft, by wear and tear, or anything of the kind.
There is only one way to make deposits in this special “bank”: By giving to the Lord’s work. Although the money is used here, it is credited to your eternal account. Each time you give your tithes and offerings at First Presbyterian Church, you are giving to the Lord by investing for eternity. You are storing up “treasures in heaven” that will glorify God forever.
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June 2010
Someone once said, “Experience is a good teacher, but she gives the test first and then the lesson.” That’s certainly true, and based on many of life’s experiences, we frequently fail the test before we can benefit from the lesson.
The formula “e equals mc2” is familiar to many college students but understood by very few people. Most of us know it had something to do with Einstein and was the formula that led to the release of enormous power and to the nuclear age. Similarly, in funding the local church, “e” might stand for every, “m” for member, “c” for commitment, and the “2” for the effort multiplied by itself. The fruit of that kind of effort is much more powerful than what Einstein discovered, even as Jesus described it in Matthew 21:22 — “Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Right now, as we consider the opportunity to support the ministries here at First Presbyterian Church, God is putting us to the test. As Gordon Moyes stated, “Responsible giving or stewardship is not man’s way of raising money, but God’s way of raising people. . . .The church’s budget is not a list of its expenses, but a record of its vision. It is not a list of bills to be met, but a program of ministry to be achieved.”
As each of us prayerfully considers what God would have us give, and as we obey what God asks of us, we can trust Him to provide the resources. That’s a test — a test of where we are spiritually much more than where we are financially. It’s a test of us as individuals and of us as a church. The question is whether or not we really believe that God has the power and ability to bless our obedience “far more than all we can ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20).
How are you doing concerning God’s tests regarding money in your life? If God’s provision in your life in the days ahead depends on how you obey His leading now concerning your giving, what will the future be like for you?
It just might, you know. . . .
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