Money
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. – Matthew 6:19-20.
On his death bed, Ban Jing’s father revealed a secret that he had buried $31,000 dollars ($20,000 pounds) in their garden. Ban Jing says, “I ran out there and dug it up, but it had been shredded by a mouse for a nest, it was damp and moldy – a real mess.” Thankfully, a bank has agreed to help Ban with the situation and try to put the pieces together if he will open an account with them. The bank has been trying to put the pieces together and has put about 2,000 of the notes back together, but they have a long way to go.
Do you have a good place to store your money? How about the stock market? Well, if you had money there you have lost some of it by now. How about banks? In the United States, we have guarantees from the government that our money is safe up to a certain amount. Sometimes though they do close banks, and you may not immediately have access to your money. It happened to us once. Of course, what if the government’s word or guarantee is no longer honored by other governments or anyone else? That does sometimes happen with hyper-inflation. As we see with Ban Jing’s father, hiding your money in the garden ground is not foolproof either. When I was a boy I had 50 or 60 comic books that might have been worth a lot now. I say might have been because they were stored in another building on the farm and mice or rats ate holes in them.
Jesus knows about all of our worries and how we worry about our money. He has the foolproof place to put your money where it will always be safe. Where is it? Store your money up in Heaven. Give your money away here on Earth to support the Kingdom of God and that money is stored up in Heaven. The suggested amount of your income or increase to give is ten percent but that is just the starting point.
When I was a new Christian I was somewhat shocked to learn about this practice of giving money to God through the church. I was okay with giving five or ten dollars but 50 dollars or 100 dollars? Let’s get real here! It took a while for me to realize that I was never able to out give God. I could live and still can live better on 90% of my income than on 100% of it. Because God will always bless the giver of a gift that is given with the right attitude. I have never regretted having given money to God. I do regret having spent money in other ways.
Giving your money to the Kingdom of God is, painful, difficult, and hard? No! Giving to the Kingdom of God is wise, obedient, a joy, and really it is not our money because we are only stewards of the material things that we have. All of it belongs to God. What giving of your money to God is, is an act of worship; or at least it should be.
Listen to what Jonah says to God after he has repented in the belly of the great fish, “…I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9).” If we really want to be in a right relationship with the Lord we will give as the Lord places it upon our heart to give. However, we should remember that God loves a “cheerful giver” as the apostle Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
So next Sunday or even before if you really want to worship God, and you want your money to be really safe, give it to God.
(Jesus knows about all of our worries and how we worry about our money. He has the foolproof place to put your money where it will always be safe.)