May 25, 2011
Jesus Wants to Make You Rich? Money and God’s Kingdom Plan
When I felt prompted to pray for more work a few weeks ago, part of that prompting was a desire to tithe toward God’s Kingdom work in a particular ministry. The new projects that came in were not about increasing our little savings account. The goal was to increase God’s Kingdom, but I benefited as part of God’s provision.
I chose the ironic title “Jesus wants to make you rich” for this series because I think money isn’t that big of a deal for God. So long as we have his Kingdom priorities in place, he can handle the money part.
However, that doesn’t mean everything will be swell and ducky.
I’m often reminded by the “hall of faith” in the book of Hebrews that details followers of God who were both delivered and who suffered terribly. In the end, they were all committed to God’s work and he rewarded them in this world and in the next with his presence.
Material markers are a poor indicator of divine blessing or presence.
God’s ultimate blessing is his presence. That’s the treasure hidden in a field that we sell all to find.
Depending on what he desires to accomplish, we may or may not have money in the bank. Believe it or not, he may want us to pass through tough financial seasons. Perhaps the ministry he calls us to requires having as little money on hand as possible.
There is no chart we can use for this.
We could have everything right with God and have no money. We could have everything wrong with God and have pots of money.
Learning to desire more of God no matter what our finances look like is the key. If we ask him and hear what he desires us to do, he can provide what we need in order to accomplish his Kingdom work.
God’s priority isn’t our comfort, but then again, he isn’t afraid to give us money if we need it to accomplish his purposes.
