Things are not always as they appear. We must look deeper beyond the surface of things to see things as they really are. Appearances can be deceptive and fleeting. I desire to provide well for my family and leave an inheritance for my children someday. In this pursuit, it is easy to get trapped in the insatiable desire for more. This “more” can be defined as more of any good thing including money, homes, cars, clothes, and excitement. This insatiable desire for more has even permeated the Church. Instead of living in humility and simplicity, there are those that seem to have an endless appetite for more and better. It’s as if the good news of salvation in and through Jesus is not enough. They need something deeper, something more; a proverbial itch that can never be scratched.
Because we belong to God and he has adopted us into his great family, we share in His inheritance. We are wealthy beyond our wildest dreams. We have all the resources of Heaven and Earth at our disposal. We can live fearlessly resting in the fact that our gracious heavenly Father has given us everything that belongs to Him. Yet, do we fully live in the light of this truth as if we were truly wealthy and have everything we need? Or instead are we pursuing wealth according to the world’s standards?
We must stay vigilant in our perspective towards wealth, including how we define and measure it. The world gathers and stores, clutches and holds. The kingdom of God freely receives and freely gives. We all long for abundance and freedom, yet many times we are imprisoned by what we hold and what holds us. I have heard the Kingdom of God referred to as an upside down kingdom. Some axioms confirming that description include;
-To be great you must the servant of all (Mark 9:35)
-To save your life, you must lose it. To lose your life, you will find it (Matthew 16:25)
-The last will be first and the first will be last (Luke 13:30).
True wealth is letting go of everything you have to receive everything that God has. One of my favorite passages about wealth and riches found in scripture is found in the book of Revelation. Jesus speaking to the lukewarm church in Laodicea said, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see (Revelation 3:17-18).” Things are not always as they appear.
“All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring