Wealth

For the last few days, we have been considering an interaction between Jesus and the rich young man who desired to know how to have eternal life.

The rich young ruler had an urgent question. He asked Jesus how he could somehow grasp eternal life.

The wealthy young man we have been considering over the last few days wanted eternal life but wanted to live life his way until the time came for him to die. Today’s passage records his response to Jesus’ call for a fresh start.

Wouldn’t you like to have a fresh start with your finances? A clean slate on your debt? A full folder of generous giving? Less anxiety about the whole issue of money? Check out today’s passage.

The seasons of life are threaded together by high times and hard times. The great joys that come with relationships, weddings, and a baby’s entrance into the world, are woven together with low times. Broken relationships lead to broken hearts. Death of dreams disappoints.

A bribe is defined as “money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person.” A bribe is anything we give to persuade or induce a certain action. And money in exchange for prestige, power, and position to gain college admission or to change the outcome of a sports game (remember the Black Sox Scandal) is always tempting for some.

I believe that there are two big takeaways from today’s passage. First, when we mistakenly view our wealth as something we have earned rather than a gift from God, we will never truly be able to enjoy our resources. Our hearts will never be truly satisfied apart from Jesus.

A wealthy believer never has to downplay God’s blessings. Wealth should be viewed as a reward for honest hard work. A believer should “accept his lot.” Don’t apologize for God’s gift. We should enjoy the vocation he has called us to do and the rewards we achieve for doing it.

Solomon is not trying to leave us hopeless; he’s trying to wake us up. He is not saying that you live a few miserable years and die. God is the giver of life. Jesus said that he came so that we could “have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Life on earth matters! What we do counts! What a privilege it is to live for Jesus!