YMA Sunday Dose: Are we an Asset or a Liability to God?

Is the purpose in working to make so much money to be able to get every single “toy” the heart desires? Is the purpose in going to college to be trained in making more and more money in order to buy more and more things? Is the purpose in living simply to accumulate as many houses, vehicles, boats, RVs, technical gadgets, clothes, sporting goods and jewelry as is humanly possible?

The wealthiest man who ever lived was King Solomon. God blessed him with  riches. He had everything money could buy in his time. Amazingly, after Almighty God had blessed this man with not only the wisdom he desired but the riches and wealth he did not; he ended up turning his heart away from the one true God to the various and sundry gods his many wives and concubines brought with them.

Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. Paul said that those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare in 1Timothy 6:9. He went on to exhort them to not trust in their riches and be willing to share according to 1Timothy 6:17, 18. Of course James lays it on the line in James 5:1-6 when speaking to and about the rich Pharisees and Sadducees of his time.

It is obvious from Jesus' teachings that we are supposed to wisely invest our resources, both time and money, so that they produce maximum return. We are not to bury talents and abilities God has blessed us with, but rather use them to bless others. From God's point of view, if He blesses someone with extra time, money or talent, it is to be shared in order to help others. Why would God solely want to financially bless someone in this life only to have them up and die at a fairly young age? All those earthly treasures cannot be taken with you when you die.

The lie which has grown out of the western mentality towards money is that we DESERVE to be wealthy, live in mansions and have bulging bank accounts in this life. It is a lie because there is nothing to substantiate it in the NEW TESTAMENT. If God blesses, and He does many times, it is to provide the means for the Gospel to be taken to the uttermost parts of the earth.

In the Old Testament God instituted the tithe and made it part of the law. In the New Testament, in keeping with the greater law which is love, God simply tells us that as He prospers and blesses us we are to in turn use those blessings to bless others so that there is an equality according to 2Corinthians. Instead of strictly tithing, God now urges us to ABUNDANTLY SHARE of all He blesses us with. Of course the bare minimum still would be the tithe, but why stop there?

If God has blessed you with excess time or money why not invest it in His work? Instead of using that time or money to please yourself, why not invest it in blessing others and spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The more honest we are regarding our attitudes toward time and money the more valuable we become to God in our service to Him. I don't know about you, but I want to be an ASSET in God's ledger and not a LIABILITY.

By Noble