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What we do with our money matters. The world tempts us to use money for earthly benefits, but there is a way to leverage temporal gain for the eternal.
The wisdom of Proverbs teaches us to place our hope in Christ rather than in the uncertainty of riches. Worldly wealth, after all, will pass away, but Christ is eternal. If we give our lives in exchange for storing up money, we have lost sight of the true wealth of life.
Now, that’s not to say money in itself is a bad thing—in fact, it can be useful, making life easier and more enjoyable. But the danger comes when we look to it instead of to God to give us delight. For God is the One who richly provides for us and blesses us in abundance, causing us to enjoy life.
Although God does provide for us, Proverbs demonstrates a clear practicality. We ought to trust in God, and at the same time, we ought to use the abilities He has given us. As a result, Proverbs urges us not to become sluggards, wasting away our lives through a lack of diligence (Proverbs 6:9–11).
Working to honor God is a good thing; we bring Him glory by doing the things He has called us to do. He will energize the work of our hands. But there is another danger here: the trap of working only to increase wealth.
Clinging to wealth wastes it. We cannot take it with us in the future, and we cannot even hold onto it in the present if God chooses to take it away. Holding on to money for our own selfish ambition or immediate gratification is not worthy of our pursuit.
The way we desecrate the idolatrous altar of mammon is by giving abundantly out of our wealth, by being generous. When we let go of our wealth and surrender it to God, we show that it is neither sufficient for us nor worthy of our worship and obsession. For God is the Giver of all good gifts, and by giving our lives to follow Christ, we obtain spiritual riches beyond comparison to any worldly wealth.
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The Proverbs transcripts used in this video are available online.
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