More thoughts on money...

I went to church today and the pastor spoke about the love of money. I found his message to be very relevant to what I have been thinking about lately (see my blog about Oprah). I want to just give a little bit of a summary to gather my thoughts on the subject a bit more.

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20 (The Message)
10 The one who loves money is never satisfied with money,
Nor the one who loves wealth with big profits. More smoke.

11 The more loot you get, the more looters show up.
And what fun is that—to be robbed in broad daylight?

12 Hard and honest work earns a good night's sleep,
Whether supper is beans or steak.
But a rich man's belly gives him insomnia.

13-17 Here's a piece of bad luck I've seen happen:
A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him
And then loses it all in a bad business deal.
He fathered a child but hasn't a cent left to give him.
He arrived naked from the womb of his mother;
He'll leave in the same condition—with nothing.
This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went.
So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke?
All for a miserable life spent in the dark?
Make the Most of What God Gives

18-20 After looking at the way things are on this earth, here's what I've decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that's about it. That's the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what's given and delighting in the work. It's God's gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It's useless to brood over how long we might live.

Money is a good servant but a bad master.
The more we get, the more we need to take care of.
We get tied down by what we own and accumulate.
The more we have, the more we want.
The more we have, the more we spend.
The more we have, the more we hoard.
The more we have, the more we leave behind.

It is all about the approach we have towards money.
God gives work and wealth to us as a gift from God!
Be happy and content with this gift!
And "Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life."

This video is so inspirational, think about the effect that we could have on this world if we decided to not live in so much excess, but instead gave even a little bit of our excess!



What could this look like for you?
We often look at missionaries, or other people who fund raise their pay check and think, "that is very noble of you to make that sacrifice to serve." Why don't we think of how we can make a sacrifice so that our friends and families can serve? Or simply to sacrifice a little bit of our time and money to serve the needy in our society. I think the video tells the story better than I can.