Got "Gold Fever" Yet?

What a beautiful day! Thursday is not quite so bad at the Mall as the weekend, but it is still bad enough during this particular season of the year -- the Christmas season. The lights glitter, the bejeweled things sparkle, the decorations beckon, and the craze gets into our heads before we know it. It often gets to be a lot more about getting than giving, about returning gifts to those who we know are giving a gift to us, about "stuff," than about anything to do with true giving from the heart of love at all.

Today this is Katrinka writing over thoughts taken from 1 Timothy 6:17-21. Please stop and read through this passage again. There is much to consider here.

"Charge them that are rich in this world, . .

The main subject of these verses is how to handle wealth. Now many of us think we do not even have to read further...after all, we are definitely NOT rich! But think again. Just being an American citizen usually means that we live in the upper 10% of the world's population in regards to wealth. That is somewhat staggering to think about! So perhaps we should stop and re-read the verses again more thoughtfully, applying them to ourselves this time?

...that they be not highminded, . . .

Do I look down on others who do not have as much stuff as I do? Do I feel superior if my car or my house or my clothes are more expensive than others? Do I feel that I should receive extra services or attention because of my job status or my corporate ownings? Do I consider myself successful just because I am able to afford the biggest and best electronics or belong to that special group of people who are in "my class"? Maybe it is only that I look with disgust and disapproval at the homeless addict standing by the side of the road with a sign? In any event, do I think higher of myself than I should think just because of education or financial security? Soul searching....

Command them not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

In a nutshell, here it is...riches are UNCERTAIN. You know it pretty well, as I do, since the last few years our lives have been shaken by a roller-coaster stock market, big problems with Social Security and more taxes with less tax breaks. Food costs more, a movie ticket costs a lot more, medical costs have mushroomed, and our savings vanish, our investments melt away like ice on a hot Texas summer day.

Just when people think they have the world by the tail, it turns into a scorpion tail and bites! Yes, that rope is not one that will carry you and me over the chasms of life that fall away into bottomless pits. Uncertain riches are never the answer at all.

Only God, our loving, caring, involved-in-all-we-say-do-and-think-Father remains CHANGELESS, dependable, and providing. It is our Father in Heaven who gives us freely the blessings of every day. All comes from Him! He makes His sun to rise on the just and the unjust, and that is good think because not one of us is perfect in any sense of the word. How thankful and humble we should be in the light of this knowledge! We never have a reason to lift up ourselves over others, when we are everyone dependent on God and His mercy, blessings and salvation. Living in a trusting relationship with Him is the one thing that brings safety and security in this uncertain world!

In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (v. 19)

Got a savings account? It is a good thing to have, important, but often we fail to replenish it after we have to dip into it, right? Well, God is telling us to get our heavenly savings account filled with the things that are really life-saving and vital so that when the end of our time comes, we will have resources that will be a gift to our Lord and that we can enjoy eternally. The "how" is in the verse above -- be rich in good works, ready to share what we have with others. Have I made any deposits to this account lately, or have I only been thinking of the lists of stuff that I want others to give to me? Am I going to be the GIVER or the GIFTEE?

It is really nice to know that we are both! "It is more blessed to give than to receive,"  according to Jesus. When I give to others, my heart is blessed and I receive such joy and peace from the very act! When we give, it has a way of coming back to us in the most unexpected ways, far more than we have given in the first place! And---no matter what---we can NEVER out-give our Father in Heaven! No matter how much we give, even to the point of sacrificial giving, He find ways to return it to us in ways that outstrip anything we could have ever done or given.

Thank you, beloved Father, for your greatest Gift of all, Jesus our Savior! What a great example you have given us on how to think about "stuff" in this world. Your Son had no place to lay His head while He was here, and yet, you have made Him sit on your right hand and reign over all the earth! Bless us Lord with a humble, giving and caring heart. Thank you for the riches we have in life and for our hope of Heaven in the end. In Jesus' name we ask it, Amen.