Money.
Its something we need, its something we want and its something that can consume us. We need it because money is what we use to trade for goods and services that we need to live. We want it because we want more goods and services and better belongings, but it also can consume us because we can spend our whole life chasing it, only to die and lose it all. Pharaohs and other such royalty used to bury themselves with their possessions, believing that it would transfer with them to the next life so they could retain what they had, but those things are still in their tombs. When we die, we don't take anything with us. Any money we earn, any of our possessions, anything we own, could be gone in the blink of an eye, and that is what Solomon gets at in this next section of Ecclesiastes. I don't think what he says, or what I'm going to say for that matter, is anything you haven't heard before, but I think that for those of us who are Christians, how we view money is very important. For those of you who are not Christians (and also those of you who are Christians), I would ask you to contemplate how you view money; what is it's meaning in your life? Something you are constantly chasing, something you are hoarding or even something you can't live without? In a couple paragraphs, I want to restate three things I think Solomon is saying about money.
1. Don't fall in love with money. Right off the bat Solomon says whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. (5:10). I'm going to be honest with you, I have 5 iPods. Two of them were gifts, one of them I got at a crazy good price and the other two I bought at normal market price. Why is it that I have 5 iPods? Well, in my case I have had some unlucky cases of iPods breaking. But suffice it to say the iPod is a great example of a product that keeps getting better so that people keep buying the newest model. I didn't really need my latest iPod, but my older one had a broken part and the new one has a camera! So I indulged. Human beings always want more. They always want the next big thing and that goes for Solomon's time and even now. Those with money keep buying things and keep wanting more money to buy more things. It is a cycle isn't it?
I think this all can relate well to Jesus' words: You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). I'm not married so I might be wrong but I think of love as an emotion that causes someone to make sacrifices for another person. It is an emotion that also causes one person to be completely absorbed and even obsessed (in a good way) with their spouse. The love-bond between a husband and wife should be one where each party makes sacrifices for the other to make the other party happy. This relationship is one where the husband and wife love each other exclusively; out of every women in the world, he chose her and out of every man in the world she chose him. Now remember how marriage is a picture created by God to show his love for his church and even his love for each of us personally. Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for us and he loves his church exclusively. What about us? Do we make sacrifices for Jesus, for the gospel, because we love him so much? Do we exclusively choose Jesus over self-indulgence, lust, our own desires, our own plans, the list goes on and on. When we fall in love with money, we begin to make sacrifices for money. Think of Enron, the "higher ups" essentially sacrificed countless people in order to insure that their paychecks would be a little bit larger. I also think of the average Japanese salaryman who's life is his job. He wakes up early and comes home late just to make a paycheck. Just as Solomon says, we are never satisfied with money when we fall in love with it, because nothing can satisfy us on this earth other than Jesus! So whether you're a Christian or not, I plead with you not to fall in love with money because it truly does consume your life!
So how then should we view money?
2. Money is a gift from God. Use it wisely. Everything we have on this earth is a gift from God. Think of how precise the human body is. Every little piece working perfectly to keep you alive. If one tiny thing went wrong it could potentially prove to be fatal. Life itself even is a gift from God, as is our possessions, our relationships and even our personal characteristics. So first, I think it is important to keep in mind that money is a gift from God and put it in perspective. If we have been given this gift, how should we use it? Think of the Parable of the King's Ten Servants in Luke 19:11-27. The King gives ten men each the same amount of money. Nine of them invest it and make varying amounts of profit, but one, he buries it in a hole and hides it. With our money, should we indulge ourselves and spend it frivolously? No! Let me first say that I do think it is fine to spend money on yourself or your family, but are you spending all or most of your money for yourself? I think that the gifts God has given us are meant to turn profit. By that I mean that the things God has given us should be used for the kingdom! Tithing isn't the church's scheme to get a little more money so the offices can have air conditioning or a pool table, tithing is a way that members of a local congregation can give back the gifts God has given them to help support the local church they are a part of! I can think of many examples of people at Hinson who do this but so as not to embarrass anyone I'll give a different example.
It is completely cliche right now but, Tim Tebow has been blessed by God with skill at football and an opportunity to play football at the highest level. Now Timmy might have a nice house, he might have a flat-screen tv, I'm not sure and frankly it doesn't matter to me because Tim Tebow is using his gifts for God. Every game this last season, home or away, Tim has invited a sick, even dying, kid, teenager or adult to be his guest for the day. http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7455943/believing-tim-tebow (you can go to this link to read the story). He is loving people with his money. In the story it talks about how he not only gives them an all expenses paid trip (using his money) but also meets with them before and after the games and shows them the love of Christ personally (using his gifts of personality). None of us are millionaires, but how are you using the gifts God has given you? How are you spending your money? If you are a member of a local church are you tithing? If not, why not? I encourage you to look for ways to use the gifts God has given you for the Kingdom of God, and not just money. How can you use things like your house, your car, your skills? If your aren't a Christian, how are using your money? A better question would be, when you die, will the things you bought help you or anyone? I strongly believe that through Christ, we find meaning in even trivial things like how we spend our money, because we are spending it with the purpose of furthering an eternal kingdom, with the purpose of loving people, with the purpose of meeting needs.
3. Be happy with what you have. In chapter 6 verse 9 Solomon, very poetically, warns to be content with what you have. I think this is easier said than done. It is natural to want things even things that aren't material goods like being taller or being smarter. Despite this I think it is important to be content with what God has given us. He has a plan for our lives and in this plan, we have certain possessions, certain characteristics and experiences. His plan for our lives is to glorify him and worship him so how will you use the things he has given you to do that? Be happy with what you have because what you have is all you need to worship Christ!
I'll close by simply saying, if you are not a Christian, I encourage you to consider Jesus Christ, through whom you can make your money spending meaningful. Rather than indulging in yourself, you can use your money, your possessions, your time for a great cause, an eternal cause! To the Christian, I would ask you to consider how you are currently using your money, possessions and time. Is how you are using it glorifying to Christ? Material things will fade away through time but when we spend our gifts for the eternal kingdom of God, we can have an impact that will last forever.
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