SATISFIED WITH WHAT WE HAVE

“Don’t love money;
be satisfied with what you have.
For God has said,
“I will never fail you.

I will never abandon you.”
Hebrews 13:5 NLT
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The old saying is “Money Makes The World Go Round.” Indeed we need money or some form of exchange of property or services to make a living. Money spells power. It enables us to acquire food - houses and land – services and gadgets - stuff and more stuff. The amount of wealth we have determines how much we can buy and do. One thing becomes obvious early on. The natural inclination is to always want more.

There is nothing intrinsically evil about wealth. Moses reminds us that “the Lord your God is the one who gives you power to be successful.” (Deuteronomy 8:18) Some great Bible characters like Abraham, Job and Solomon were very wealthy people. What makes money either good or bad is our attitude towards it. The more wealth we accumulate, the easier it becomes to put our trust in it rather than in the Lord. Moses warned about that. “When your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 8:13-14)

If that happens to us, we will find ourselves preoccupied with material things and spiritual matters will be less and less important to us. We have fallen in love with money and the power it gives us and we will crave more and more. That is a BIG RED FLAG!! “People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

Love of money opens the door to all sorts of dark thoughts and activities – ungratefulness – suspicions – cheating – lying – stealing - bad business deals - gambling – marital problems, etc. etc. No wonder it leads some people to wandering from the faith. The writer of Proverbs prayed, “Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.” (Proverbs 30:8-9)

The right attitude toward money is to take the opportunities the Lord provides us to make a living, and then be thankful for, and satisfied with, however he blesses us. He promises, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” That’s good to know especially during this economic downturn.

Let’s Pray-
Father please pour out your grace upon us that we may always love you above all else, whether our lot in life is to have enough – more than enough - or poverty. We choose to be satisfied with what we have.
Amen