“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:20-21 NIV
In the animated Disney version of Peter Pan, Peter is puzzled because Wendy cannot fly. He cannot figure it out, until it dawns on him that she was never sprinkled with pixie dust.
Like Wendy before pixie dust, money keeps us earthbound until it is given to God. Like tentacles reaching up from the grave, so also the lies we believe about money twist and tangle around us, until we cannot escape their gravitational pull without God mercifully hacking us free.
What do we truly believe? Money is the meter that reveals the content of our hearts. What are we, for example, without stylish clothing, a newer car or a nice house in the suburbs? What damage will we sustain if those things are taken away from us?
(I realize that our readers come from many countries and many cultures, so you may have to substitute something that makes more sense for your culture.)
Where exactly is the fear line in your heart? I know where mine is. And why does God sometimes pull us across it?
Let me suggest that He wants to show us the truth we never quite grasped before: He is on the other side. Our fears seem so real, but they are illusions. God is the reality.
It seems like we will plunge into the recklessness of giving all alone. But we are not alone. He is there to catch us.
Dwight
PS. For decades, porn has been a major problem in the church. In recent years, we’ve finally started looking at this elephant in the room. But are accountability groups and promises the best way to battle porn? On Saturday, June 8, 2019 in Inner Wealth we’re going to explore another way to get leverage to overcome this persistent addiction.
