Battling with the Buck...Part 3 "God Wants Us to be Rich!"
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- Created: Tuesday, 01 February 2005 18:22
- Written by Tom Lipp
This is the last in a series on wealth and the Christian. First we saw that having wealth is not a sin; it is the love of wealth that God forbids. Then we saw that the prosperity gospel is a well-packaged but dangerous decoy that lures believers into forfeiting eternal treasures for short-term worldly wealth.
Today we focus on the oft-ignored topic of eternal treasures for believers. Don’t expect to see the following financial advice in the secular press. You won’t find it. But, lest we ignore this world’s treasures altogether- remember the RRSP deadline is March 1. So act if you must but first read on.
When believers appear before the judgment seat of Christ, we will not all receive the same reward! The Lord promised upon His return to reward everyone according to his work. (Rev. 22:12). Differing work will attract differing rewards. I believe there are at least three reasons why eternal treasures are ignored.
First, most people do not understand that eternal life with Jesus Christ is available to “anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord” (Rom 10:13). They believe it’s presumptuous thinking that they are going to heaven and if heaven is uncertain, why even discuss heavenly rewards?
Think about it. Where is your greatest treasure? God wants us to be rich. He wants us to retain indestructible wealth that we can enjoy forever.Those in this category need to be told about the free gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Secondly, earthly treasures are visible in the here and now. Unfortunately it is easier, though not better, for believers to live by sight than by faith. Thirdly, there is a widespread notion that Christians should not be reward motivated, but merely be content with the presence of God. If this were true, why would the Psalmist say, “In Your presence is fullness of joy and in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps. 16:11).
Somehow the thinking has got into our culture that the pursuit of personal gain is evil. Nonsense! Jesus commanded us to get excited about future rewards. “Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great.” (Matt. 5:12) The desire for personal gain was hard-wired into the human psyche even before sin entered the world through Adam.
In his book, The Dangerous Duty of Delight, John Piper states, “The pursuit of true gain is an essential motive for every good deed.” In other words, there is nothing unspiritual in asking, “What’s in it for me?” That’s what David did before he killed Goliath. (1 Sam. 17:26) and what Moses understood before he left Egypt. (Heb. 11:26)
These truths are also taught in A Life God Rewards by Bruce Wilkinson and The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. They should be mandatory reading for Christians in a materialistic culture. I like the way Wilkinson put it, “What do the greats of church history such as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wesley and Spurgeon all have in common? They all earnestly believed and hoped for eternal rewards.” Alcorn writes, “By generously distributing God’s property on earth, we will become property owners in heaven.”
Think about it. Where is your greatest treasure? God wants us to be rich. He wants us to retain indestructible wealth that we can enjoy forever.
With my children I use a weak analogy to make the point. Pretend for a moment that heaven is a free trip to Disney world. The entrance and accommodation are yours for the asking. Everlasting life is a free gift. No human being, not even a Mother Teresa, earns heaven by personal performance. Otherwise the bloody execution of Jesus Christ would have been unnecessary. Upon arriving at Disney world you are given a gold, silver or bronze pass with which to enjoy the thrills of the park.
Go for the gold.