Friday, October 14, 2022
Where Is Your Treasure? – The Vault
October 14, 2022/in Week 1, Bible Study
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Throughout my experience as a Christian, money is a topic that isn’t widely discussed. However, this topic is much more important than most of us realize. Last weekend, we learned that 11 of Jesus’ 49 parables used money as an example. Those 11 parables center around being wise versus being foolish; they teach us how to best use our resources in our earthly lives to prepare for our coming lives in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Our society often prioritizes worldly achievement and “success.” We tend to think that because we seemingly earned it ourselves, it is perfectly fine to spend our money however we want. However, the Bible teaches that we are to give the first fruits of our resources to God. After all, he is the one who blesses us with them. Ultimately, our resources and finances are not our own; everything belongs to the Lord. Everything that we are blessed with was provided to us by God, not solely by our own doing.
As a recent college graduate, I initially took tithing for granted. It is so easy to get caught up in the shiny, worldly things that fight to capture our attention, such as new apartments, new cars, and entertainment. It is scary how easily we can forget from whom our wealth truly comes—we’re just so eager to spend it on ourselves. In this way, we put ourselves before the one who provided us with these gifts in the first place.
Last weekend, we learned that giving to God is like an act of worship. It is; worship is giving praise and thanks to God for not only all of the wonderful gifts he has blessed us with but also for who he is. In the gospels, Jesus teaches about how our heart reflects our priorities:
Matthew 6:21
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
So many of us treasure money, material items, and achievement before anything else. Therefore, it makes sense that the desires of our hearts will reflect that: We will continually desire worldly success. But the pursuit of money alone will never fulfill us. When we make money an idol and worship it before God, we will always be left unsatisfied and wanting more. Instead of centering our lives around money and what it can do for us, we should center our lives around God and how he commands us to use our resources.
Let us not lose sight of worshiping the one who blessed us with these gifts and entrusts us with using them to further the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 25:13
No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
Questions:
In what ways can you use money as an act of worship?
How can chasing after money and worldly success affect your relationship with God?
Next Steps:
Make an effort to tithe this weekend and give the first fruits of your resources back to God.
Attend a Financial Peace University Group to better understand how to manage and prioritize your finances.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for providing me with the blessings that I get to enjoy today. Remind me that you are the one who blesses me with my earthly treasures, and help me to entrust them to you. Change my heart so that I always give my first fruits to you as an act of worship. Let me become a better steward of my resources to further the Kingdom of God. In Jesus’ name, amen.