Hi guys! Been thinking a lot about the leadership of our country lately. It seems as though the rich perpetually get richer and the poor continually get poorer. Each new day, we wake up to a new bill being passed that takes away our freedoms and choices just so that the people in power can have more money and more power (as if controlling an entire country and making six figures a year isn’t enough!). It doesn’t seem quite fair at all. So as this train of thought rolled out of the station today, I turned to my bible to look at what God says about all this. This is what I found:
Proverbs 1:19 (KJV)
“So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.”
Pretty deep huh? Greed takes over a person’s life and consumes until there is nothing left but the person and their mountain of greed. However, it goes further than that. The “life” referred to in this passage has dual meaning. The ways of the status-obsessed, money-hungry, paper-chasers results in spiritual dead as well. This kind of death is much more important for it effects deep down to your soul, the very essence of your being; the part that makes you, well…you. This death is not only pertinent to our earthly life but transcends to the life that is to come where we will spend eternity with the father of our choosing; either the merciful creator of the universe, God the Father (aka Jesus the true King) or Satan, the lying, counterfeit prince of air. No wonder most leaders and politicians are the way they are; they have been corrupted by the greed of their own souls.
1 Timothy 6:10 (KJV)
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
So this passage is in reference to our saved brothers and sisters in Christ. The love of money changes people. If the roots of a tree are evil does that make the whole tree evil? Yes, because the tree could not survive without the roots; they hold it up. I ask you, where is your support from? What is holding you up? The love of money brings sorrows, many sorrows in fact. Look closely as it says people of faith have pierced themselves with this. This is pain and sorrow we bring upon ourselves, either knowingly or unknowingly. Keeping up with the Joneses and coveting what others have is unfulfilling and leaves you empty. Do not fall into this trap-like thinking!
Luke 6:24 (KJV)
“But woe unto you that are rich: for ye have received your consolation.”
Wow! This says that the people who are monetarily rich and rely on money as their God, have already been compensated! The perishable riches of this life is as good as it gets for them! Do the leaders of this world not understand that this life is fleeting and that they will leave this world as they came into it- naked and without possessions?
1 Timothy 6:9 (NIV)
“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”
This is not the life God has planned for you friends. He has such a better quality of life in store for you, yes, you! This love-of-money mentality is merely a snare to us; a stumbling block that is in no way intended for God’s people. Don’t waste precious time getting tripped up in it!
Matthew 6: 19-21 (KJV)
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)
“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 through his poverty might become rich.”
Ultimately, Christ gave His life to be the all-sufficient sacrifice, not just one person but for all people. We don’t need earthly riches when we possess Christ! He is our rock, our salvation, our provider, and our defense. In Him we have everything. Believe it! We are called to have a heart like Christ. Give to the needy and always be willing to serve. This is what God calls us to do, it is our calling; the highest calling.
Peace comes from God, not money; may you all be filled with His peace that surpasses all understanding because that is something to stand for!
Lifted Vision Ministry 