We all need money in order to live and money certainly gives us options in this life. While no one would dispute those two truths, this life has never been and is to never be about money and the accumulation of wealth. Imagine participating in a preliminary round of athletic competition…perhaps golf or track. Imagine pouring everything that you have into the preliminary rounds, seeing some success, but finding out that, in the end, you would not be participating in the main event. In fact, despite your performance and success in the preliminaries, you are not even invited to be considered as a participant in the main event. While that analogy is completely fictional, the reality is that this life is only preliminary. The 7, 8, or 9 decades given to us in this life (on average) is but a breath when compared to eternity. And everything that we achieve in this life, in the material sense, only carries value for the here and now. This life is temporal and is quickly passing away. Eternity is forever, without a beginning or an end. So how shortsighted would any of us be to pour everything that we have into the brevity of this life while disregarding the consequences that that decision would have on our eternity? Jesus posed the question this way:

For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself (his own soul)?

                    Luke 9:25

The bottom line is this: life on earth is designed, by God, for all of us to have a personal relationship with Him and to do so through faith in Jesus Christ. When we surrender our lives to Christ, we see the redemptive and restorative power of God. We receive forgiveness, mercy, and grace. And along with having this born again, salvation experience, that puts us in right relationship with God, is the gift of the Spirit of God, who comes to live on the inside of our hearts. And it is the presence of God in our lives that guides us and gives us the wisdom to make the most of this life by focusing on the eternal and not the temporal. So while money is a necessity in this life, we are never to make that the focus nor are we to pursue it over that of pursuing a vibrant, life-giving relationship with the Savior. The Bible has much to say regarding money and how we, as Christians, are to view it, handle it, and guard against its enticing allure. 

Direct Instructions: #1 Invest In Eternity

The Bible is full of instructions, succinct and easy to understand. Not only does God, through His Word, guide us on what to avoid, He also reveals to us a better way of living, things that we should be doing and prioritizing. Consider the following:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:19-21

There it is in one brief passage…God instructing us on what not to do and what we should do. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.” Let stop right there! How many of us are storing up material wealth for ourselves? Now the unbelieving world will not receive nor adhere to such instruction but what about us as believers? Jesus says don’t. How are we responding? Does this mean that Jesus is against savings accounts, retirement plans, or other assets that we might have? I don’t think so. But what He is saying is that those things are not to be what drives us nor do those things become priority in our lives. (Jesus addresses this in the last verse of this passage). So instead of living to acquire as much wealth as we can by “storing up for ourselves” temporal things, God says rather, “store up for yourselves treasure in heaven.” We should be prioritizing, living for, and seeking the things of the kingdom of God and eternity over that of temporal things. And what about “moths, rust, and thieves?” Jesus is using these things to remind us that temporal things are just that…temporary. They won’t last, we don’t take them with us into eternity (nor will our heirs), and temporal things are entirely powerless to save our souls. Jesus reminds us that as we invest, and we are to invest, that we are to invest in the things of eternity where things like “moths, rust, and thieves” are not a threat to our investment. Unlike the stock market, the economy, and world markets, eternal treasure is kept safe, secure, and ours to enjoy forever and ever. 

So we are given direct instruction from God as to how we should be investing our lives and that investment should be in eternity where our investment is kept safe. The tragedy occurs when we ignore Jesus’ instructions and spend all of our time on acquiring and storing up things that we cannot even keep. 

And at the end of the passage, Jesus hits at the heart of humanity and how our depravity keeps us from God’s best and causes us to fully invest in things that, ultimately, do not matter. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We will always make time for what is most important to us. We can’t spend all of our time, money, and energy in pursuing temporal things and, at the same time, make an argument that we are wholly devoted to God and the things of heaven. Where are treasure is, there our heart will be also. And God knows your heart and He knows mine!

Direct Instructions: #2 Be Content

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?”

          Hebrews 13:5-6

“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money.” We should not love money nor material things. The writer of Hebrews is reminding us to keep our “character” free from loving money. A person’s character can be established in a number of ways and one of those ways is the person’s attitude toward money and material things. A godly character is free from the love of money. It is as simple as that. If we say that we love God with all of our heart yet have, as our life’s focus, a desire to make more and more money, we are deceiving ourselves. Our character is to be free from all of that…and what a freedom it is! 

To not be drawn into the world of money, having no desire to participate with those who are, is really quite liberating. And do Christians, who adopt this lifestyle, enjoy life? I would argue, way more than those surrounded by material wealth. Simple human observation validates that idea. 

But along with keeping our character free from the love of money is the reality of being content. Along with the freedom that comes in the life of a born again believer in Jesus Christ is also a contentment. And when we combine freedom and contentment together, we are able to live with a peace that the unbelieving can only imagine. Paul says it like this:   

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

            1 Timothy 6:6-8

With a lust for money comes a lust for more, the true enemy of contentment and peace. But for those who desire the things of eternity over that of this brief and temporal life, there is freedom, contentment, and peace. Just another reason to seriously consider the superiority of the abundant life that we have in Jesus Christ. 

There are two quotes from the Old Testament used by the writer of Hebrews when speaking of freedom and contentment. Consider the first quote:

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

        Joshua 1:5

This is actually a quote from the book of Joshua where God is telling Joshua to be “strong and courageous.” God told Joshua that He would not leave him nor forsake him. This truth was designed to bring strength and confidence into the life of Joshua as he led the people into the Promised land. The writer of Hebrews is using it to bring strength and confidence into your life and mine. But instead of bringing spiritual strength to our lives because we are leading a people into a foreign land, we are to find freedom and contentment in knowing that God will take care of everything that we need in this life. This includes providing financially for us. Living in the provision of God is one way that the Christian life is superior to a life always pursuing, lusting for, and being completely sold out to money. 

The second quote comes from the Psalms:

So that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”

    Psalm 118:6

We can add confidence to our lives when we are completely sold out to serving the Lord Jesus Christ. So consider the value of this biblical instruction…keeping our character free from the love of money and being content with what we have will, in turn, bring freedom, contentment, confidence, and peace. We would do well to listen and apply this truth to our lives.  

Direct Instructions: #3 Be On Guard 

“Then He (Jesus) said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

      Luke 12:15

Our third instruction regarding money and material wealth comes, again, from Jesus Himself. “Beware, and be on guard,” is the declaration. And just what should we be guarding ourselves against? The answer: every form of greed. Consider this definition of greed:

Greed is an intense, selfish, and insatiable desire for more resources—such as money, power, or possessions—than is necessary, often leading to exploitation and social harm.

Greed, like lust and selfishness, can lead to our making very poor spiritual decisions. When the allure of material wealth eclipses our love and devotion to God, we are in serious spiritual trouble. Again, the unbelieving world will not receive nor adhere to such an instruction but for those of us claiming the name of Jesus, we need to take Jesus’ instruction to heart and make sure that our heart is guarded from anything, including greed, that can derail us from living our lives for Him. Consider this Proverb:

Watch over (guard) your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

        Proverbs 4:23

We should be investing in eternity, being content with what we have, and guarding our heart from any form of greed, keeping our character free from the love of money.

Jesus reminds us of a universal, eternal truth that applies to all of mankind, even those who reject Him…”for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” This is a good reminder that life is not about temporal things nor the acquisition of material wealth. Investing in eternity is a wiser way to live and demonstrates that our hearts are truly devoted to God and not the things of the world.