You have heard it said that money is the root of all evil: that is incorrect.\u00a0 Money, wealth, possessions themselves are not evil, but the pursuit of these things: greed, spawns evil.\u00a0 For where our treasure lies, here also will be our heart.<\/p>\n
![\"treasure](\"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-content\/uploads\/Treasure-chest-illustration-gold-and-jewelry-300x278.jpg\")
The traditional image of treasure\u00a0 being chests of coins and jewels is a little archaic for a modern discussion of this topic.\u00a0 Today’s treasure tends to be comprised of things like a fat bank account (modern-day equivalent of a chest of coins), a big fancy home, a snazzy car, a killer wardrobe, and all the latest tech toys.\u00a0 When taken individually they may not seem terribly imposing, but when taken en masse they can indicate a problem.<\/p>\n
The real question becomes one of want vs need and where your focus lies.\u00a0 Matthew 6 says:<\/p>\n
19<\/sup>\u00a0\u201cDo not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20<\/sup>\u00a0but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21<\/sup>\u00a0For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.<\/em><\/p>\n This is just a piece of a larger discussion which you can read on-line: Matthew 6:19-31<\/a> or in your own Bible.\u00a0 I will refer to some of it, but will not quote the entire passage here.<\/p>\n The next passage talks about the eye being the lamp of the body.\u00a0 If the eye is good or bad determines whether your body is filled with light or darkness.\u00a0 This refers to where your focus in life is: what draws your eye.\u00a0 If the focus of your attention is acquiring possessions: treasure, you lean into greed and greed is a whirlpool that once it draws you in is difficult to get out of.\u00a0\u00a0 If you look at some shiny bauble — be it a pair of shoes, the latest iPhone, a high-def TV, or a car — and think, “I must have that” you might have a greed problem.\u00a0 If acquiring that bauble will put you into debt (or deeper into debt, as is often the case) you definitely have a greed problem, and your eye is not fixed where it ought to be.<\/p>\n No.\u00a0 Having nice things is not a sin.\u00a0 Jesus said He came to bring us life and life in abundance.\u00a0 Be careful with this though, for He said LIFE in abundance, not stuff.\u00a0 It may well be that stuff will come, but if so it is because you have handled it well.\u00a0 If you do well in managing a little, God will give you more (Matthew 25:14-30<\/a>).<\/p>\n They key is in managing your treasure properly, and this is where greed gets in the way.\u00a0 You cannot properly manage what God has given you if you think it’s all for you.\u00a0 Verse 24 is the often quoted passage, “No one can serve two masters; … You cannot serve God and mammon.”\u00a0 Mammon being wealth.\u00a0 If you pursue wealth, you will exclude God.\u00a0 If you exclude God, you may end up getting rich (Satan can give gifts too) but in the end, what does it benefit you if you own the whole world, but lose your soul? (Matthew 16-26<\/a>, Mark 8:36<\/a>, Luke 9:25<\/a>)<\/p>\n There is often more at stake than your soul, more immediate costs.\u00a0 Proverbs 23:4-5 says:<\/p>\n 4<\/sup>\u00a0Do not overwork to be rich;<\/em> How many times have we heard the story of parents who worked so hard to give their children the best life possible that the children barely knew them?\u00a0 How many marriages have broken up over neglect because one was never home, but always working?\u00a0 The intentions may be good, but the results are disastrous.\u00a0 It is far better to do with less and have a strong family than to pursue “the good life” and end up alone.<\/p>\n This passage also says a good deal about not worrying about your needs: “what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.” Jesus uses birds and flowers to illustrate how well God can care for you, if you pursue the things of God not worldly desires.<\/p>\n 32<\/sup>\u00a0For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33<\/sup>\u00a0But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.<\/em><\/p>\n The word Gentiles here refers to non-believers, not non-jews.\u00a0 The worldly seek after worldly pleasures and worldly treasures.<\/p>\n Luke 12<\/a> also talks about this topic as Jesus tells a parable about a rich man whose fields yielded a crop so abundant his barns could not hold it all.\u00a0 But rather than sharing his blessings with others, he determined to build larger barns and keep it all for himself, only to be called by death shortly afterward.\u00a0 Jesus said:<\/p>\n 21<\/sup>\u00a0\u201cSo is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.\u201d 22<\/sup>\u00a0Then He said to His disciples, \u201cTherefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23<\/sup>\u00a0Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.<\/em><\/p>\n 1 Timothy 6:17-19 offers instruction to those who have been blessed with worldly wealth:<\/p>\n 17<\/sup>\u00a0Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18<\/sup>\u00a0Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19<\/sup>\u00a0storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.<\/em><\/p>\n In Matthew 19<\/a> Jesus counsels a rich young man who wants to know how to get into heaven.\u00a0 He is fine with following rules, but when his wealth is laid on the block, he walks away in despair.\u00a0 Jesus tells his disciples:<\/p>\n \u201cAssuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24<\/sup>\u00a0And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Note that He does not say it’s impossible – for with God all things are possible – but if one’s focus is on the wealth and not on God, you might as well be that camel.\u00a0 The riches of this world offer a temporary comfort, the riches of God are eternal.\u00a0 Do not get drawn aside by the shiny baubles of this world.\u00a0 If God has blessed you generously, be generous in supporting the work of God in this world.<\/p>\n And if you are not rich in a worldly sense, does his mean God disapproves of you?\u00a0 Hebrews 13:5-6 offers:<\/p>\n 5<\/sup>\u00a0Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, \u201cI will never leave you nor forsake you.\u201d[a] 6<\/sup>\u00a0So we may boldly say:<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe Lord is my helper;<\/em> Paul, who started out as Saul: a Pharisee and a rich man, spent his life after meeting Jesus traveling the Mediterranean rim with a few friends, preaching the Gospel and surviving through the kindness of others.\u00a0 Next to Jesus, Paul was the most influential man of his day, yet he lived an indigent life.<\/p>\n Those who followed Jesus and The Way<\/a> in that first century were known for their sacrificial generosity.\u00a0 This was necessary, especially among the Jewish converts, because becoming “Christian” (a term not used until later) meant being thrown out of their synagogue, being shunned personally and professionally by other Jews, and being disowned by their family and Jewish friends.<\/p>\n Yet all of these people considered themselves blessed by God.\u00a0 As should we, as long as we live in accordance with God’s commands He looks after us.\u00a0 We may not all be rich by worldly standards, but our treasure in heaven is abundant.<\/p>\n Scripture taken from the New King James Version\u00ae. Copyright \u00a9 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You have heard it said that money is the root of all evil: that is incorrect. Money, wealth, possessions themselves are not evil, but the pursuit of these things: greed, spawns evil. For where our treasure lies, here also will be our heart. What is treasure? The traditional image of treasure being chests of coins … Continue reading “Where Your Treasure Lies”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[100,78,27],"class_list":["post-16726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-matters-of-faith","tag-behavior","tag-christian","tag-financial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16726"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21407,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16726\/revisions\/21407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Lamp of the Body<\/h2>\n
![\"wealth,](\"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-content\/uploads\/God-And-Money-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>Is having nice things a sin?<\/h2>\n
\nBecause of your own understanding, cease!<\/em>
\n5<\/sup>\u00a0Will you set your eyes on that which is not?<\/em>
\nFor riches certainly make themselves wings;<\/em>
\nThey fly away like an eagle toward heaven.<\/em><\/p>\nDo Not Worry<\/h2>\n
Instructions to the rich<\/h2>\n
Advice for the humble<\/h2>\n
\nI will not fear.<\/em>
\nWhat can man do to me?\u201d[b]<\/em><\/p>\n![\"rich](\"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-content\/uploads\/1210i-make-myself-rich-make-wants-few-300x300.jpg\")
<\/a>If you feel you have been snubbed by God in regards to physical blessings, take a look at Jesus.\u00a0 Who has ever been closer to or more blessed by God, yet once he started his ministry, he had no home.\u00a0 He and his followers built no cathedral, they walked everywhere they went, and they had no entourage toting along their wardrobes.\u00a0 Theirs was a simple life.<\/p>\n
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