The Kingdom of Heaven – Part 10
How to get rich? This is a question a lot of people ask. In fact, a google search on “how to get rich” (using the exact phrase search option) returns 1,440,000 results.
Why do people want to get rich? Duh! Isn’t it obvious? Well, it might be obvious that if you get rich you will have a lot of money. It is obvious that if you get rich you will be able to buy things that you can’t buy now. It is obvious that if you get rich you might be able to go to places you didn’t even think about going. It is obvious that if you get rich you won’t have to work as hard as you have to work now (if you decide to work at all). What is not obvious is if you will be happier if you get rich. The fact is that there are plenty of testimonies of people that have not found happiness in riches.
There is nothing wrong with being rich, but the process to getting there and the worries related with being rich could have a negative impact on your family, your health, and most important your spiritual life.
In the parable of the sower Jesus taught that the deceit of riches makes people unfruitful (“And that sown into the thorns is this: he who hears the Word; and the anxiety of this world, and the deceit of riches, choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful”. – Mt 13:22). If someone puts his (her) faith in riches he (she) will end up deceived. Riches give you more material things. Just that! But life is much more than having material things.
For a man’s life is not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. – Luk 12:15
To teach about this Jesus said the following parable to his disciples.
And He spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room in which to store my fruits? And he said, I will do this. I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and I will store all my fruits and my goods there. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat drink and be merry. But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul shall be required of you, then whose shall be those things which you have prepared? So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. – Lk 12:16-21
The man in this parable was getting ready to accumulate more riches, but he wasn’t ready to face eternity. When somebody engages in the process of getting rich, priorities might become unclear. What was supposed to bring you relief becomes your bond. This man was so worried about his riches that they became his master, a place that shall be only be occupied by God.
No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. – Mt 6:24
One of the reasons people want to get rich is so they are not anxious anymore about how they are going to get the money to pay the mortgage, the bills, and provide enough food and cloth to their family. The following passage of the scripture teaches that we shall put our faith in God and not in our ability to provide ourselves with all these things.
And He said to His disciples, Therefore I say to you, Be not anxious as to your life, what you shall eat; nor for the body, what you shall put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap, having neither storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them. How much more are you better than the birds? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature? If then you are not able to do even the least, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they do not toil, they do not spin. And yet I say to you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass (which today is in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven) how much more will He clothe you, O little-faiths? And do not seek what you shall eat, nor what you shall drink, and stop being in anxiety. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you have need of these things. But rather seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. – Lk 12:22-31
Receiving this promise makes us worry free. This becomes our riches. The good thing is that these riches are forever. They don’t depend on the stock market. No FDIC required. No banks. No safe deposits. It is our treasure in heaven.
But lay up treasures in Heaven for yourselves, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. – Mt 6:20
The man in the parable had his heart in his riches and nothing else. That was his only treasure. He was rich here on earth, but had nothing for him in heaven.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Lk 12:34
If we are told about a treasure we would do anything at hand to find it. Jesus offers us eternal life and an abundant life while we are here on earth. What could be better than that treasure? This treasure is discovered as we begin our daily relationship with Jesus. Let’s engage in pursuing this treasure as nothing else in this world.
Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which when a man has found it, he hides it, and for the joy of it goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. – Mt 13:44
Some might say that following Jesus is not their ideal of life because of the short-term struggles that Christians face. However, these “struggles” are nothing compared to what we receive in exchange (“receive many times more in this present time, and, in the world to come everlasting life” – Lk 18:29-30).
Once again, there is nothing wrong with being rich or trying to get rich. If you are already rich or if you are in the process just make sure to keep your faith in Jesus, recognizing that your treasure is not in your riches but in your relation with God.
Having everything you want: a lot of money.
Peace, Happiness and Eternal Life: Priceless.
If you would like to begin a discussion on this teaching please do so by accesing the topic about the Kingdom of Heaven our forum site http://forum.forachangeonline.org/
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