It's Just Money

“A PSALM OF DAVID. The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.” ^ESV Psalm 24:1-2

When it comes to money, and the things money will buy, perspective is everything. That’s why it is so vitally important to realize that money as we know it today has no intrinsic value at all; it’s just paper. What’s more, the things we exchange money for seldom bring contentment in and of themselves, but true wealth and contentment can be had without money.

I was reading a post on The Artist Farm website this past week and come across this thought in regards to wealth: “Rather than stressing about how you can get more money for money’s sake, focus instead on how you can provide more value to more people. All sorts of wealth will flow from this mindset.” Now that’s an interesting thought, living and working to serve others, but it’s not a new thought; Martin Luther maintained the same thing back in the 16^th century. But I digress.

The point I wish to make is that regardless of how hotly we pursue money or how successful we are at acquiring and growing it, it’s merely a means of exchange. More importantly, money and the things money can buy (everything) belongs to God. The earth is the Lord’s! Now that’s a revelation of old that we need to embrace anew.

It all belongs to God; everything. Can you say that about all your possessions? If you can’t, it may be time to examine whether your faith rests in the Creator or in the created. This Great Recession we find ourselves in should be an eye opener to the fragile nature of a currency-based faith.

Faith in the Creator allows one to remove the baggage and worries of ownership. As Larry Burkett put it, “When we acknowledge God’s ownership, every spending decision becomes a spiritual decision. No longer do we ask, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do with my money?’ The question is restated, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do with your money?’” Think about it.

The Apostle Paul maintained that he had learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself in at the moment. Paul was not a man of meager means, so it is safe to say that t he had learned to be content while ‘stewarding’ money. Yet his statement also indicates that he was content in the absence of money. As testimony to that fact, Acts 16:23-25 records an account of he and Silas praying and singing hymns while bound in leg irons in a foreign jail. Now that takes a contented spirit!

If money woes are troubling your spirit, if contentment escapes you, then let me challenge you to cease being an owner and start being a steward. It all belongs to God. Ask the Creator how you should manage His finances.