No. 5 Two Lies We Believe

   It's my money and I can decide what to do with it.  Wow, doesn't that sound true?  I mean, we earned it, right?  We worked for it, went to school for it, invested blood, sweat and tears for it.  Sacrificed for it!  It's ours.  Sorry...that's a lie.  Truth is, it's all God's and we are just managers of it.

   Notice a parable of Jesus:
   The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  He thought to himself, "What shall I do?  I have no place to store my crops."  Then he said, "This is what I'll do.  I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years.  Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."  But God said to him, "You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"  (emphasis added)

   Now don't misunderstand.  I don't think God is against us having some things.  But where this guy missed the point is in thinking he had everything and could just sit back and enjoy.  The truth is, when we die, all that "stuff" goes to someone else.  Sometimes (oftentimes) to someone who may not deserve it.  We're going to leave it all behind.  It's not ours.  It belongs to God.

   So we need to understand our relationship with this stuff.  It is all on temporary loan from God and we are blessed to be a steward of it while we are here.  We are tasked to be a faithful manager of it.

   Money and possessions can satisfy me.  This is another lie that sounds true.  Sure, things can give some measure of satisfaction and enjoyment, but only for a while.  Some will read this and say, "I know that already."  But they will walk out of their house tomorrow thinking, "If I had a better car...if I had that big house overlooking the lake...I wish I could get that new..."  Even when we know things don't satisfy, we still want them.  And that's my point.  It takes a constantly renewed awareness to overcome this deception.  Everyday we are bombarded by advertisements and temptations to acquire things we think we need.  Ecclesiastes 5:10 says,
   "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.  This too, is meaningless.  As goods increase, so do those that consume them.  And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?"

   We need to change our attitude.  Money and possessions will never satisfy us.  Only God can do that.  And, it's not our money, it belongs to God.  Today I discussed two lies that we believe.  Tomorrow I will present three truths we don't believe.

Thanks for reading.