I find the "have it, grab it" Christians to be somewhat off kilter. Everytime Jesus says that we will have anything we ask for, it is in connection with our work to expand His kingdom. Nothing in the Book says that we can have anything that will spoil our need for God or our relationship to Him.
Abraham, David, and Solomon had much. Altho the first two stumbled, they remained faithful. Solomon had so much that he became depressed – see Ecclesiastes. Solomon’s many foreign wives turned him away from God. In the end, did he still believe in the true God?
Jesus said in this world we would have tribulation (John 16:33). Jesus asked us to forsake the world for Him and Hebrews 12:1 advises us to lay aside everything that hinders us. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says we should not lay up treasures for ourselves on earth, but to forward them to our eternal heavenly dwelling.
He promised to be with us. He promised us eternal life with Him. He promised that, as we abide in Him and work to bear fruit, that we would have everything we needed to accomplish that goal. He did not offer us Mercedes and large mansions on earth.
Please bear in mind the story of the rich man and Lazarus. On earth Lazarus had nothing and ended up in heaven. The rich man, whose name we do not know, ended up in hell. In another parable of the rich man and his barns, Jesus says the rich man came to nothing and all he had went to someone else.
Outside of parables, there was a rich man who asked Jesus how he could be saved. Jesus said “Your riches are weighing you down. Give it all away and follow me.” The man walked away sad, because he treasure his "stuff".
How many lottery winners commit suicide? Money doesn’t fill our inner need. “The love of money…”, that often misquoted line actually points to the division between having much safely and having much to one's own detriment. Do you have your stuff or does it have you?
Proverbs 30:8 has an excellent summation:
O God, I beg two favors from you;
let me have them before I die.
8 First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name. (NIV)
Having more than we need may be a trick of the devil to ensnare us and weigh us down.
In every worldly thing, guard your heart. If you can do that, God will know how much He can trust you with.
God bless us all.
Kathi
