Of all the idols we seek and serve, none is as demanding as Money.
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Money is a hard master, a tyrant that offers no grace, allows us no rest, accepts no rivals, gives us no peace. No matter how hard we work or how well we invest, we will never have enough:
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”
We strive to make up the difference, but we fail because what is lacking cannot be counted.
“There is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches.”
Not only that, but we must spend our days defending what little we have from moths, rust, and thieves:
“When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?”
And in the end, money is fickle and disloyal, quickly leaving us in our time of need:
“When your eyes light on wealth, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.”
And again,
“he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”
But Jesus is a different sort of Master! He has promised to always be with us; He will never leave us or forsake us. His provision is abundant and limitless, requiring no human effort to substitute. And the wealth He gives us is grace:
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
Thank you, Lord, for delivering me from the service of money and offering me the riches of grace. Help me then to use what little earthly wealth I have to lay up treasures in heaven!
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”