Although I try to share with clients a biblical view of managing money, sometimes clients teach me or remind me of truths.
A client recently said, “It’s taken me about 60 years to learn that I don’t need to cry over material things, only lives.”
She went on to explain that her house had recently burned down. No one died or was hurt from the blaze, but she lost most of her things. Generous church members, family, and a bit of insurance helped her replace her stuff.
Not too much emotion or energy for things. Mmm. That’s a perspective God would like us to embrace.
Do we anguish over an acquaintance who doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ as much as we anguish over a decline in the value of our retirement plan?
Do we have as much motivation and discipline to study God’s Word as we do to work long and hard to buy more stuff?
Think of the energy, time, and focus we place on things: buying them, transporting them, displaying them, dusting them, storing them, moving them, bequeathing them, discarding them.
Jesus doesn’t say material things are sinful, but they don’t last. He told a would-be follower that He doesn’t have a home or a place to lay His head like animals. Although we’re not told for certain, I don’t get the impression Jesus went around Jerusalem with several U-haul-donkeys and a lot of baggage.
Jesus said our lives don’t consist in the abundance of our possessions. Seek first the Kingdom mindset of loving God and loving people.
Jeremy L. White