The Scriptures on Finances - Scripture on Finance - All good gifts come from God

This week we will begin looking at material from the book “Managing God’s Money” by Randy Alcorn.

One day each of us will stand before God and give an account for how we have managed God’s resources. Instead of always acting like God’s money managers, we sometimes live foolishly and wastefully by taking our direction from the world around us instead of from God. Martin Luther said, “There are three conversions necessary in the Christian life: the conversion of the heart, the mind, and the purse.”

Some Christians have nothing to give when they are done spending because they are never done spending. Luke 16:10-11 states, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?”

Our faithful use of money and true riches are connected. What we do with our time, talent and finances tells God and others a lot. God wants us to recognize the relationship between our true spiritual condition and our actions and attitudes regarding money and possessions. If God has worked in our hearts it should be evident in our walk.

Luke 19:8-9 “Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham”.

Jesus judged the reality of Zacchaeus’s salvation by his willingness to part with money for God’s glory and the good of others. What are we doing to demonstrate to God and others that we are Christians?

In Matthew 19 Jesus says, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll say it again — it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

God wants to be number one in our lives. He is jealous when we put someone or something above Him. It is easy to trust in what we can see but it takes faith to trust in the unseen. When we trust in money we make money our idol. Jesus wanted this young man to have no other god in his life. There is a barrier that wealth presents to genuine spiritual birth and growth. Is Christ Lord over our money and possessions?

If we learn how to hold on loosely to things then it probably won’t hurt so much when God asks us to part with them. We are instructed to share our clothes and food with the poor, to not take more than what is due us and to be content with our wages.

Learning how to be content can position us to be blessed in the future. When we recognize that all good gifts come from God we can express our appreciation and thankfulness to Him by our words and our actions.

Trusting in God rather than in money is an important lesson we all need to revisit often. This week let’s work on putting God first in all areas of our lives. Let’s work, serve, give, and manage resources with eternity in mind.

May God bless you big.

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This is the 18th column in a series by Kevin Barsotti, pastor at Ark Church in Havre, about financial matters and their treatment in the Christian faith.