"Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
I've never been a particularly wealthy person. Granted, I made a decent salary when I got a temp job working for a mortgage company shortly after I came back from Peace Corps. However, when I got laid off from that two years ago, it wasn't pretty. Finally, I have a job which allows me to pay the bills. That being said, I have sometimes wistfully daydreamed about writing a bestselling, kick-butt novel that would allow me to strike it rich and become a multi-gazillionaire. I thought that doing so would make me happy. However, this verse gave me a reality check.
This verse was written by King Solomon, one of the wealthiest men of the ancient world. It is included in a book where he basically says that life outside of God is completely meaningless. Imagine if Bill Gates or Carlos Slim went into a soul-wrenching depression and started venting about how useless money was and you would start to understand just how shocking this statement is. The fact is that money doesn't make you happy. It allows you to buy a bunch of shiny toys and influence/manipulate people into doing what you want, but it can't bring you fulfillment. Can you use a Visa card to heal the pain of a divorce? Can you use your Mastercard to buy true friends at Macy's? don't think so. If you died today and God asked you why He should let you into heaven, do you think that He would be impressed by all the billions of dollars on your PNC bank statements? No. The fact is that only a relationship with Christ can make you happy. Money, at the end of the day, is just a bunch of paper and pieces of metal. Can it buy amusement? Yes. Will it allow you to keep your house, your car, and provide for yourself and your family? Yes. Will it make you happy? Heck no!
At the same time, God does expect us to be faithful stewards with what He has given us. In other words, He expects us to manage our funds properly, as well as to save and invest wisely. This is indicated by the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). That being said, our goal is to honor God in our usage of money by being generous, responsible and shrewd children of the Lord. It is not to be a greedy slimeball who casts aside all morality and ethics and exploits people for their own personal gain. For that reason, as much as I'd like to be a multi-gazillionaire, I'm going to focus on building my relationship with Christ and wisely using the provision that He is giving me now. That way, if I do strike it rich with that awesome, kick-butt novel, I will know how to prudently use that wealth.
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." (Luke 16:10)
