Today's money will be worthless when Christ returns, so we should spend our time accumulating the kind of treasures that will be worthwhile in God's eternal kingdom. Money is not the problem; Christian leaders need money to live and to support their families; missionaries need money to do their work effectively. It is the love of money that leads to evil and causes some people to oppress others in order to get more.
Have you ever seen The Day After Tomorrow? or I am Legend? If you have, I want you to think of how things were when everything went south. In The Day After Tomorrow when all of the natural disasters are happening, everything seems to be fading away. It was a scary scene to think about. If you have seen I am Legend, think about the setting of the entire movie after the first 10 minutes. There were not any humans left in New York City, everything was abandoned and broken down. Now check out this scripture from James 5 and really pay attention to the way it was written. The way that James describes the deteriorating of riches reminds me of those two movies.
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are caring out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reaches the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of the slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. (James 5:1-6)
The things of this world will waste away. We aren't going to be able to bring our phones to heaven or the laptops we use everyday to do hours of homework. All of these man made things will not last. There is so much worthlessness in riches. Sure, things like our phones are handy right now and make our lives easier but those things won't remain forever. We need money to live, yes. We need money to do the things we want to do, but the materialistic items that we usually use your money on aren't eternally valuable.
This past Thursday I spent the day at The Mall of America with my parents up in Minnesota. That is the largest mall in the entire country and any store that you could ever think of is in that mall. Any store, restaurant, etc. Everything you could ever want you could buy in that mall. Each person I told that I was there asked me the same thing..."did you buy anything?" Surprisingly no. I spent an entire day shopping and didn't buy one thing. Now I kept wondering why I couldn't find anything that I needed or wanted. My parents kept asking me to. It seems like they were amazed that I didn't buy one thing. I thought long and hard about this. I don't think I needed anything because I was so fulfilled by the time that I was able to spend with my parents. I was also fulfilled when we got to sit down and enjoy meals together. I hadn't spend that much time with my parents in a couple of months and I believe that is what I needed. The time spent with them was more valuable than anything that I could've bought at the mall.
Now where did I share that story? To be honest I am not really sure. I think I shared it to show that there is worthlessness in riches. I was fulfilled because of the love I have for my parents and the time I got to spend with them. Not by anything that I could've gotten at the mall. I also want to say that I am not trying to make it sound bad if you buy things when you go shopping. You can buy all that you want! There are things that we need and things that we want. We just cannot develop a love for money.
Do you wonder how you can spend your money? Money can buy happiness, but only if used to do things as opposed to simply have things. I recently began reading the book titled The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor. While I was reading it the other day I came across a section of the book about spending money and it relates perfectly to this post.
Shawn Achor writes... "in his book Luxury Fever, Robert Frank explains that while the positive feelings we get from material objects are frustratingly feeling, spending money on experiences, especially ones with other people, produce positive emotions that are both meaningful and more lasting. For instance, when researches interviewed more than 150 people about their recent purchases, they found that money spend on activities-such as concerts and group dinners out-brought far more pleasure than material purchases like shoes, televisions, or expensive watches."
also...
"Spending money on other people, called "prosocial spending," also boosts happiness. In one experiment, 46 students were given $20 to spend. The ones who were told to spend money on others (for instance, by treating a friend to lunch, buying a toy for a younger sister, or donating to charity) were happier at the end of the day than the ones who had been instructed to spend money on themselves."
As you can see from The Happiness Advantage, there are two great ways in which you can spend your money on things that have wroth. That is experiences and other people. Let that be encouragement to you. There is worthlessness of riches, not a worthlessness of the rich.
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