True Wealth

"I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)" Rev 2:9
"We are treated as poor...yet making many rich" 2 Cor 6:10


The teachings of Christ heavily include the topic of wealth, money, and spending. This man who did not own a home, have a savings account, and was socially speaking a 1st century Jewish peasant, he would however defy all previously held notions towards finances. Christ would speak almost 25% of the time on the topic of money. The teachings all centered on the fact that "you cannot serve two masters" and if you treasure the things of this world your heart will be here and fixed on more filling your life wiuth things rather than filling the kingdom with souls.

It seems that perhaps we have missed it. In a country where everything is accesible and right at our fingertips it seems as though most of us have fallen for the lie. That it is simply not our calling to deny ourselves, perhaps downsize our house, trade in our luxury SUV or sedan for something more affordable in light of the fact that over a billion people do not have water, over thirty thousand children will starve to death today, and a majority of the world lives off of what we spend in a week.
The bible recognizes that we have an innate sinful ability to withhold our lives from God, as though portions of it were ours, but the epistles constantly command us to aknowledge that Gods heart breaks for the hungry, the tired, the lonely, the widow, the abandoned. I see camper after camper up here. So many of which come from homes that operate in a manner of wealth that I do not even think one could quantify. But they are either spoiled, distasteful, or lazy, or lonely, angry, and just not led. I don't know where the fathers of so many began to justify and move in the direction that we need more, I need to work more and the mothers agreed... That it would be better if there was less Dad around but more things in the house...

But the problem continues not only in our greed for more but in our self consumption. We are an adulterous people who desire far too often God's creation rather than him. Its as though all of us have become heavily addicted to material possesions and justify these addictions by looking at the person above us and saying well its not like I have "..." and thus its ok. It is confusing. Our comforts tend to far outweigh our pursuit of God. Most of us would probably admit that what we want is a comfortable life in a beautiful suburban home, with a beatiful spouse and children, a good job that allows us to give 10% (a number well below the givings of God's people in the OT) a long life, die in our sleep, and no hell.

I am not sure how I would explain so much to so many of the saints at the feast in heaven, or how I would explain my life to God if my life fell in this pattern...

Christ give us the passion and understanding of your incredible sacrifice, how you who created everything became a man possesing nothing and that your actions further allow us to worship you by giving up some things and through you possessing everything...