Command those who are rich...


Last week my recently retired dad called me and asked me what I was doing.  I told him I was at the office working.  He said, “so you must not have had the winning ticket then.”  I replied, “no, I guess it’s impossible to win if you don’t even buy a ticket.”  We were both kidding because neither of us buy lottery tickets.  I will admit that I watched the video of one of the winner’s of the huge jackpot dancing at the gas station when he found out he had won those hundreds of millions of dollars.  I think it would be nice to get a whole bunch of money like that.  And that begins the quick journey of finding myself unhappy and dissatisfied with the gift of a wonderful life that God has given me.

In the world that we live in for some reason, it has become completely normal for us to equate having wealth with happiness.  It’s not so much that we all desire to have a bunch of money, but we all do want some more happiness, and we have been trained to believe that wealth brings happiness.

In 1 Timothy 6:17, Paul writes, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain.”

The word that Paul uses in this scripture for “rich” and “wealth” is a greek word that means “to have an abundance.”  Now I don’t generally view myself as a “wealthy” person but I certainly have an abundance.  You probably do too.  Do you food in your house for more than one meal?  Do you have more than one bed in your home?  Then you are much closer to “rich” than to “poor.”  I have been to Africa and I have witnessed what it means to be poor.

Paul continues his thoughts in the rest of that verse, “but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

We have been discipled by our world to put our hope in wealth, so how do we put our hope in God?  Paul adds this, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

In order to put our hope in God, we must take our hope out of wealth.  Identify the different ways that you have accidently put your hope in wealth or in your abundance.  Do you only feel at peace when everything is just perfect?  Are you going into debt because of an insatiable desire to have more and better stuff?  Do you feel really down when someone else gets something better than you have?

May God continue to teach us about life through His scripture.

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