Category Archives: Money & Wealth

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February 29, 2024

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Money & Wealth, Peace of God, Sorrow, Grief & Regrets, Temptation & Sin

STUFF

I had everything a man could desire! … Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. [Ecclesiastes 2:8b-10-11 (NLT)]

squirrelWhen considering Solomon’s excess and riches, I recalled comedian George Carlin’s “Stuff” routine. First performed for Comic Relief in 1986, Carlin made fun of our obsession with having stuff. Along with being the King of Israel, Solomon was the King of Stuff. Denying himself nothing, along with his elaborate throne of gold and ivory, he displayed 500 ornamental gold shields on the walls of his palace. Rather than silver, all the king’s goblets and eating utensils were made of pure gold. He had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horseman.

Because Solomon controlled the chief trading routes north from the Arabian Peninsula, he collected the equivalent of over $1.2 billion a year in tribute from Arabian kings, merchants, and traders as well as Israel’s governors. It wasn’t just the queen of Sheba who gifted him with precious jewels, spices, and tons of gold. Everyone who visited the king brought him gifts of stuff: silver, gold, spices, weapons, clothing, mules, and horses. Every three years, Solomon collected even more stuff when his fleet of ships returned with additional horses, mules, gold, silver, robes, ivory, apes, and monkeys. The king collected women as readily as he did gold. With 1,000 women in his household, just imagine the amount of stuff the harem held! Nevertheless, despite all his “stuff,” Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes are not the words of a happy or contented man.

Carlin described our houses as places to keep our stuff while we go out and buy even more of it, but having lots of stuff becomes a burden. We must take care of it, insure it, worry about it, and find a place to put it. Some people have so much stuff, they hire professional organizers to arrange it while others have so much stuff they rent storage units for some of it! With over 50,000 such facilities here, self-storage is one of the fastest growing American industries. It’s easy to imagine what Carlin would make of the over two billion square-feet of space that now are dedicated to storing all our stuff!

You’ll never see a U-Haul following a hearse and Solomon knew that he couldn’t take his riches with him. Nevertheless, he continued to amass stuff and so do we. None of it, however, seemed to satisfy the king any more than our stuff can satisfy us. Denying himself nothing, Solomon claimed to have had everything a man could desire. Nevertheless, contentment eluded him and the king came to hate life and find everything meaningless.

Despite his wisdom, Solomon didn’t understand that wealth and material possessions can’t bring us joy, meaning, fulfillment, or purpose. Exquisite gems, hammered gold shields, golden goblets, and a colossal harem were a poor substitute for a relationship with God. Contentment can’t be found in stuff, no matter how beautiful; it’s found in our confidence in the sufficiency of God. As for those 500 gold shields and the rest of the palace’s treasures of which Solomon was so proud—they were carried off as plunder by Shishak of Egypt just five years after Solomon’s son Rehoboam became king!

You say, “If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.” You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. [Charles Haddon Spurgeon]

We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. [Ecclesiastes 5:15 (NLT)]

Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. [1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NLT)]

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February 26, 2024

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Bible Stories, Money & Wealth, Temptation & Sin, Wisdom & Guidance

HUBRIS

And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men…and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. [1 Kings 4:29-31 (ESV)]

Now so sagacious and understanding was Solomon, that none of these problems were too hard for him; but he conquered them all by his reasonings, and discovered their hidden meaning, and brought it to light. [Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews 8.5.3)]

peacockGod gifted Solomon with great wisdom and people from every nation journeyed to Solomon’s court to hear his wisdom. Although 1 Kings 3 tells us that Solomon wisely determined the identity of the real mother in a dispute between two women who claimed to have given birth to the same infant [3:16-28], one wise answer hardly seems newsworthy enough to make him famous beyond Israel’s borders. Even the king’s prolific writings and vast knowledge of botany and zoology don’t fully explain his renown. In a world without mass media, what caused his reputation to travel some 1,400 miles to Sheba (modern Yemen)? Sheba’s queen was so interested in meeting the king that she and her entourage made a journey which, including her stay in Judah and the return trip, took two to three years. What about Solomon caused her to travel so far to assess the king’s wisdom and wealth for herself?

While Scripture is silent as to how it was established that Solomon was “wiser” than anyone else, the answer may be found in Antiquities of the Jews and Against Apion, written by 1st century Jewish historian Josephus. Josephus reported that Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent “sophisms and enigmatical sayings” (conundrums, paradoxes, deceptions, and mysteries) to Solomon for him to solve. Quoting from the ancient Phoenician historian Dius, Josephus added that the two kings regularly put one another to the test with mental challenges. Josephus added that none of those challenges were too hard for Solomon. Since the king who failed to solve the problem was obliged to pay a large sum of money to the one who could, there is speculation that the 120 talents of gold Hiram sent to Solomon may have been to pay one of those debts. [1 Kings 9:14] Perhaps, Solomon’s fame spread because of this high-stake game of “riddle me this” between royalty and people of power. Scripture says the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon with chidah; usually translated as hard questions, chidah meant a riddle or an enigmatic, perplexing saying or question. Was the Queen a participant in this royal game of brain teasers? While mere speculation, such success may help explain Solomon’s downfall.

When looking at Solomon’s lifestyle, it seems that all the fame, recognition, and accolades went to the king’s head and he began to believe his own press—that he knew all there was to know! The king’s hubris led to a sense of entitlement, excessive self-confidence, pride, and decadence. That he collected 700 wives and 300 concubines seems far more hedonistic than wise! Although he spent seven years building a grand Temple for God, tempted by his own self-importance, Solomon spent thirteen years building a palace complex for himself! One of its five buildings, the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon was 150’ long, 75’ wide and 45’ high. In contrast, the Temple measured a mere 90’ long, 30’ wide, and 45’ high. Six steps led up to Solomon’s throne, a figure of a lion stood on each side of every step, and two more lion figures flanked the throne. Inlaid with ivory (one of the costliest raw materials in the ancient world), the elevated throne was overlaid with gold and had a gold footstool. Scripture reports that nothing like it existed in any other kingdom and Josephus said it was of “prodigious bigness.”

Although Solomon’s wisdom allowed him to do great things for the kingdom, he seemed to forget from where that wisdom came. Scripture tells us that he turned away from the very God who twice appeared before him! Solomon failed to obey the few simple rules God set for Israel’s kings in Deuteronomy 17—not to build up a large stable of horses, trade with Egypt, marry foreigners, take many wives, or accumulate large amounts of wealth for himself. I suspect he also ignored the law that kings were to copy those rules and regularly read them so they wouldn’t become proud or turn away from God in any way. Apparently, Solomon’s self-confidence caused him to think himself above the law! Self-importance has a way of blinding us to our faults! The man who penned those wise proverbs about the danger of pride should have heeded them himself. Let Solomon’s story remind us that, when praise goes to our heads, pride and sin aren’t far from our hearts!

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom… Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall… “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride… One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. [Proverbs 11:2, 16:18, 21:24, 29:23 (ESV)]

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February 8, 2024

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, God's Grace & Love, Love & Works, Money & Wealth

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS [Matthew 25:14-30]

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. [1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)]

water lilyJesus told several parables regarding the day of His return. The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids stresses being ready before that day occurs and the Parable of the Sheep and Goats describes the separation of obedient followers from unbelievers and pretenders in the final judgment. It is between those two that we find the Parable of the Talents about serving our Master until the day of His return.

Before going on a lengthy journey, the master entrusted his slaves/bondservants with his wealth during his absence. He divided his fortune among the servants according to their ability. Each received no more and no less than what they could manage. The first servant received five talents, the second two, and the third only one. Although the master gave his wealth to his servants, it still belonged to him. Although absent for a time, he retained the rights to both his servants and money. They were only caretakers of what they were given. While unsaid, it was understood that the master expected his servants to wisely invest the talents during his absence. If he hadn’t wanted the talents utilized, he would have taken the safest (and least profitable) way of protecting his money by burying it (as did many in Jesus’ day).

Rather than a coin, the talent (tálanton) was a unit of measurement for precious metals like gold or silver. Weighing about 75 pounds, a talent of silver was worth about 6,000 denarii, roughly 6,000 days (or 20 years) of wages in Jesus’ time. Based on today’s average daily wage, one talent would be the equivalent of $1,344,000 in 2024! Jesus often used hyperbole in his parables and this was no exception. The generous and trusting landowner had entrusted 600 pounds of denarii—the equivalent of over $10,000,000 today—to his servants!

After a long time, the master returned and asked his bondservants for an accounting. Because they immediately put the master’s money to work by investing it, the first and second servants had doubled their master’s fortune. The master praised their faithful stewardship and rewarded them with more responsibilities. The third servant, however, simply hid his one talent in the ground. Rather than accepting responsibility, the man claimed he was afraid of losing it and blamed his idleness on his master by calling him a harsh man. The word translated as harsh was skléros and was used to describe someone unyieldingly harsh or stern, even violent. But, there is nothing in this parable to indicate the master was anything but reasonable to his servants. Remember, the servant was given only what he was capable of handling so there was no excuse for his inaction. By doing nothing, the “wicked and lazy servant” had robbed his master of service and increase!

In this parable, the master represents Jesus, the journey represents His absence until He comes again, the two productive servants represent faithful disciples, and the third servant represents a false/unfaithful disciple. This third man may have lived in his master’s house but, by calling his master skléros, it’s clear he neither knew or loved him! Those who know and love God will serve Him faithfully but, those who don’t, won’t! Like the third servant, they ignore, waste, or misuse God’s gifts and are nothing but “worthless” servants! Jesus concludes this parable by saying that the worthless servant was thrown into the “outer darkness” where there would be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”—a clear reference to hell.

Because the English word “talent,” meaning natural aptitude or skill, comes from the Greek tálanton, it’s easy to think that’s all that Jesus is speaking about. The parable’s tálanton, however, are far more than that; they represent everything and anything by which we can glorify God. Along with our natural talents, they include the gifts of the Spirit along with our time, senses, contacts, reason, skills, influence, strength, privileges, advantages, money, possessions, faith, health, experiences, interests, knowledge, and anything else we possess!

Like the servants, we each have been blessed with a different number of “talents” according to our ability. Nevertheless, even the servant who received only one talent was given a fortune! The issue, however, isn’t how many talents were bestowed or returned—the servant who returned four talents received the same reward as the one who returned ten. The issue is how well we use the “talents” we’ve been given! May we never forget that, while given to us, they belong to the Lord and we are but caretakers of His blessings!

Paul told the Romans, “Each of us will give an account of himself to God.” [14:12] This parable makes it clear that, when Jesus returns, there will be a day of reckoning—a day of both reward and punishment. Right now, we live in the time between Matthew 25:15 and Matthew 25:19—between the day our Master departed and the day of His return. A day of reckoning, however, will come and He will ask us to give an accounting of how we used His talents. Will He say, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”

We see in God’s kingdom there simply is no room for drones, only for working bees. [Brian Bell]

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. [Romans 12:11 (ESV)]

His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” [Matthew 25:21 (ESV)]

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February 5, 2024

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Attitudes & Behavior, God's Word: The Bible, Money & Wealth, Nature, Temptation & Sin

STEALING

You shall not steal. [Exodus 20:15 (ESV)]

Jesus once said that Satan was a thief. Satan does not steal money, for he knows that money has no eternal value. He steals only what has eternal value—primarily the souls of men. [Zac Poonen]  

Brown PelicanThe patient Cormorant had been diving and resurfacing empty-beaked for several minutes before finally emerging victorious with a large fish crosswise in its beak. The fish thrashed in the cormorant’s beak while the bird tried to re-position its meal so it could be swallowed head first. A Brown Pelican suddenly crashed into the water and, after a great deal of wing flapping and water splashing, it was clear the Cormorant was no match for the larger bird. While the Pelican threw back its head and swallowed the unlucky fish, the unfortunate cormorant swam away still hungry.

Apparently, food theft (kleptoparasitism) is common among birds and it’s not limited to stealing one another’s fish dinner. Some species harass other birds until they spit up swallowed food and several species conduct high-speed chases in the sky and grab food from other birds in midair. Bird theft isn’t even limited to food. Blue Jays and Black Crows frequently pilfer the nests of other birds for shiny things with which to adorn their own nests while Magpies and Eagles will steal building material as well. At first, it seems like the birds are exploiting the hard work of others but they’re just doing what birds do naturally. Living in a competitive world with limited resources, they’ve developed remarkable skills needed for survival.

Fortunately, we don’t have to steal fish or mice from another person’s mouth or snatch bits of foil, moss, or twigs from someone’s home to survive. Unlike the birds and other animals, God created us in His image. As such, He gave us a different set of rules for living. Nevertheless, the Pelican’s behavior caused me to consider the simple commandment not to steal—a prohibition important enough to be mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible. Is this commandment limited to things like not cheating on taxes, shop lifting, snatching purses, embezzling, and robbing banks or is there something more?

Essentially, most of us are honest; nevertheless, we steal—by using worktime to check social media or personal email, padding an expense account, getting paid under the table, taking more than our share, or cutting in line. We’re stealing when we do a slip-shod job and call it “good enough,” fail to return something borrowed or found, pay unfair wages, or take advantage of someone else’s hardship, kindness, or ignorance. We steal the truth whenever we tell a lie and steal God’s glory when we take credit for His blessings. We rationalize our little cheats and don’t think of them as stealing, but they are.

Worse, we can steal someone’s reputation when we gossip, we can steal their hope when we deny them an opportunity or encouragement, we can steal their joy with a few poorly chosen words, and we can steal their dignity when we treat them in a demeaning manner. When we snub, humiliate, abuse, deny, and ignore or when we’re over-bearing, selfish, rude, negative, and unforgiving, we’re stealing something far more valuable than money. We’re stealing things like self-respect, innocence, courage, delight, confidence, dreams, and opportunities. This sort of stealing is neither a misdemeanor nor a felony; nevertheless, it is a sin.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.  [Romans 13:8-10 (ESV)]

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October 13, 2022

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Attitudes & Behavior, God's Grace & Love, God's Plan, Love & Works, Money & Wealth, Temptation & Sin, Trusting God

NO GUILT

For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. [Matthew 5:45 (NLT)]

peony
50 years ago, mothers spent several days in the hospital before going home with their newborns. While sharing my hospital room with a young woman who’d given birth to her first child, I overheard the pediatrician explain that her baby had Down’s syndrome, was being examined by a pediatric cardiologist, and likely needed immediate surgery. Although my heart broke for that mother, I also felt a sense of relief his news wasn’t for me. Statistically, as the older woman with three children, I was the mother more likely to hear that diagnosis. Knowing I was no more deserving of a healthy child than was she, I felt a tinge of guilt for the healthy infant nursing at my breast.

Have you ever felt guilty for receiving blessings when others weren’t so blessed, for reaping a harvest of blessings that you didn’t sow, for catching “lucky breaks” that come from God’s hand, or for having the equivalent of manna from heaven when others go hungry? We’re no more deserving than anyone else and yet our fertility treatment worked, we beat the odds with the chemo, we survived the crash, a loved one got sober, or our prodigal child returned. While others are not so blessed, we have healthy babies, loving parents, successful children, a financially secure retirement, a booming business, or simply were in the right place at exactly the right time. Yes, we may have prepared well and worked hard, but so have others who never enjoyed those blessings! When hearing the horrific stories told by Ian’s survivors and witnessing the destruction this hurricane left in its wake, I felt guilty admitting that the worst we suffered was lack of cell service, 24-hours without TV, and a few hours of yard and lanai clean-up.

With so many others suffering or in need, I’m probably not alone in feeling some sort of guilt or shame for God’s blessings like better circumstances, answered prayers, and what seems like “dumb luck.” Job asked “Why me?” about his suffering and I can’t help but wonder “Why me, Lord?” about the incredible blessings He’s bestowed on me. But, just as Job never discovered God’s reasoning, neither will I! As the one who controls the universe, God knows exactly what He’s doing even though we don’t. Rather than understand Him, God asks us to trust in His infinite wisdom and love.

God is not sadistic, cruel, neglectful, incompetent, or capricious. He doesn’t scatter blessings and trials impulsively, haphazardly, or accidentally. Knowing the past, present, and future of the entire cosmos, His perspective is far wider than ours ever will be. Although He orchestrates events that frequently seem questionable, needless, tragic, or unjust, we must accept that God is God and we, most definitely are not. We will never know the reasons behind our blessings or tragedies.

As Christ followers, what we do know is that we are recipients of the most undeserved and greatest gift of all—Jesus! As sinful and undeserving as we are, I suspect none of us feel guilty about receiving God’s only son and the salvation and eternal life that He purchased for us! Why then should we feel any guilt for His other blessings (all of which are equally undeserved)?

Let us remember that guilt is a gift from the enemy. If he can’t make us envious of the blessings received by others, he’ll try to make us ashamed of the blessings God gives to us. Rather than questioning God’s reasoning, let us recognize His amazing grace and appreciate his lavish generosity. It’s an insult to the Giver of All Gifts to discount, disregard, squander, or fail to appreciate, enjoy, and use all that we’ve been given. While we should be humble when accepting God’s blessings, we must never be ashamed or embarrassed about them.

If God has bestowed a blessing upon us, it’s because others are in need and we are the means by which He fills those needs. The only reason for guilt or shame is when we’re not good and faithful servants who steward and share His gifts wisely and generously while giving God the glory!

All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors. [John Calvin]

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. [Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT)]

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July 19, 2022

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Attitudes & Behavior, God's Plan, Love & Works, Money & Wealth, Prayer

MEGA MILLIONS

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. [1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)]

Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. [Proverbs 13:11 (NLT)]

St. Abune Teklehaimanot, I pray You help me win the Lottery today. I beseech, entreat and beg you who stood upon one leg that you may grant my fervent plea and the winner of the jackpot will be me! [Pete Crowther]

mountain bluebirdKnown for his extreme piety and for sprouting wings when he fell off a mountain, some people regard St. Abune Teklehaimanot as the patron saint of gamblers. The last years of his life, he chose to live in small deep cave that had spears sticking out of all the walls and remained standing the entire time, even after breaking a leg. While the wing sprouting and ability to remain standing seem to be lucky breaks, I find him an odd saint from whom to request help at winning the lottery. Nevertheless, some people do. Considering the size of tonight’s Mega Millions lottery (at least $530 million and counting), I imagine several ticket purchasers have been calling on God (and even Saint Abune).

I wonder what God thinks of the lottery. We’re told to be good stewards of our blessings, so does He approve of spending hard-earned money on a game of chance? I understand the odds of winning this lottery are 1 in 302,575,350 and, compared to those odds, getting struck by lightning (1 in 12,000) seems a near certainty! Since purchasing a lottery ticket is little better than tossing money out the window, I’m not sure God approves.

Moreover, because the ones who buy the most lottery tickets are the people who can least afford them, many believe the lottery actually exploits the poor. God, who tells us to care for the less fortunate, might disapprove for that reason alone. He also might object simply because the sole purpose of purchasing a lottery ticket is to win money. Jesus cautioned about the danger of riches getting in the way of faith and it’s in 1 Timothy that we’re warned about the love of money being the root of evil. Proverbs warns us about “get rich quick” schemes which certainly describes the lottery. I really don’t know where God stands on the lottery and, while I suspect He doesn’t much like it, I doubt that buying a lottery ticket occasionally is a sin. Nevertheless, we better remember that greed always is a sin!

Now we come to the question of praying to win the lottery. Personally, I think that’s not the kind of prayer God wants to hear and it will fall on deaf ears. On the other hand, what if we promise to give it to God? What if we promise to build Habitat homes, Family Life Centers for churches, and schools and hospitals in third-world countries? What if we promise to fund church missions and missionaries, medical care for the indigent, mental health services, shelters for the homeless, day care facilities, food pantries, and seminary costs for aspiring pastors? Would asking God for the winning ticket be the right prayer then? Will God listen if we promise every cent to His work? As much as God wants us to do good works, I don’t think a winning lottery ticket is how He wants them done.

God promises to provide for our needs but He expects us to do the work and make some sacrifices along the way. Let’s face it—giving away money that hasn’t been earned is hardly a sacrifice. God expects us to appreciate His blessings and, if there’s been no effort on our part, there usually is little or no appreciation of the blessing. That’s why groups like Habitat for Humanity require some sweat equity from the families who receive a home. It is up to every one of us, not just the lottery winners, to have altruistic and unselfish goals and it is up to every one of us to do something about achieving them. Rich and poor alike, we all must do our part to fund those worthy causes, feed the hungry, and build those needed homes, hospitals, schools, and churches and all without lotto winnings.

If you win the Mega Millions tonight, I pray you use your money wisely and remember that the more we are blessed by God, the more He expects us to bless others. A word of caution for the winner—according the New York Daily News, nearly 70% of lottery winners end up broke or bankrupt within seven years!

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” [Hebrews 13:5 (NLT)]

And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. [Hebrews 13:16 (NLT)]

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