I am sure that I would be right to assume that none of us was the “1-in 134 Million” who won the $80 million Powerball Jackpot last week. Now there are a number of ways to look at this. If you don’t buy a ticket, you cannot expect to win, and if you don’t buy a ticket, you have been saving (winning) weekly a minimum of at least $10.00 per week, that’s about $25,000 for a lifetime!
Unfortunately, the media advertising surrounding these great ‘super-jackpots’ make it out that to win is to make all your “dreams come true.” However, before you start thinking you have missed out, for those who have won “big,” statistics show that for some, their personal lives have unravelled at a great rate of knots because they cannot ‘handle’ such vast amounts of wealth. Some have had to endure marriage and family breakups, lengthy court battles, imprisonment, drug and alcohol addiction, and some have taken their own lives.[1]
Scripture gives us a much more balanced view of wealth. Jesus reminds us that the right way to view wealth is by reminding yourself not to lay up treasures for yourself on earth, where moth and rust destroy…but in heaven, where it is absolutely safe (Mat 6:19 emphasis added). In other words, have a gospel kingdom focus! It’s not sinful to be wealthy, but it is sinful when wealth rules your life.
During my time in the ministry, I have really appreciated and thanked the Lord for blessing the church with wealthy people who have a real and genuine gospel focus. In fact, humanly speaking, some ministries would not be possible without such generous people.
Sadly, on other occasions, the opposite has also been true. Some ‘Christians’ have been so obsessed about their wealth, they either have an insatiable appetite for more or cannot sleep for fear of losing big time. And worse still, some have ‘walked away’ from the Lord and no longer have time for him in their lives.
We should not be surprised, for Scripture encourages us to be content and warns about the dangers that love of money can bring. The Apostle Paul writes, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim 6:6-10).
Sometimes, the good Lord puts things on our pathways that help us to focus on what is really important. And the most important thing is to be in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ for then we are rich beyond measure. Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians, and it is probably a good reminder for us too, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Cor 8:9). In light of that, may we never be tempted to forfeit our soul for riches that last for only a few years at best.
Prayer: “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God.” Proverbs 31:7-9; JZ