Saturday, August 2, 2008

Consecrated Wealth

In the story of Jesus and the wealthy young ruler it says, "Jesus seeing that he (the wealthy young man) had become sad, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"(Luke 18)

What is the kingdom of God? In the New Testament alone this phrase is used over 100 times. For the the purposes of this post 'the kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal sovereign God over all creatures and things (Psalms 103:19; Daniel 4:3). The kingdom of God is also the designation for the sphere of salvation entered into at the new birth (John 3:5-7), and is synonymous with the "kingdom of heaven".'

The kingdom as "sphere" or a way of seeing things (world-view) is the one so many of us struggle with. When we are contemplating spending, giving or keeping what we possess we are confronted with our own world-view. Is what we have really ours and does it lead us toward God? I read a great quote last week that said, "Our checkbooks should be read as theological statements of our beliefs."

Perhaps we need to begin, or renew, to consecrate all that we have and will have to God as His possessions and we merely His stewards, or Trustees, for a time? I believe this would eliminate a tremendous amount of anxiety in our lives. This is surely a world-view that leads us toward Him who stores up treasure for His children. Where is our treasure? For sure when we analyze this we get a good view of our heart!