Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Make Believe Money

I've been reading Max Lucado's 'Fearless', a good read. Simple and he has a way of drawing pictures - maybe a few short-films - with words and sentences.

This especially struck my attention sensors last night as reading...(this is in my words but the point Max was making)
Comparing: A wealthy Monopoly player, and I mean wealthy. This guy was loaded in not one but hundreds of Park Places, hundreds of Boardwalks, etc. Colorful money out the wazoo and was seeking someone to invest it all for him! I mean, to invest it outside of the Monopoly world... I'd like to try that sometime, wouldn't you? Walk into top stock brokers office down on Wall St. and say, ¨Hi Sir, it's your lucky day. I have a fortune.¨ They get all excited and then I break the news that I'm a koo-koo, ¨Yes, a fortune in Monopoly money! It's pink! and blue! and isn't that exciting?¨ (You think they would send security to throw me out...?)

The Comparison to this Monopoly craziness was us! (Luke 12:13-21) This is such a foundational Christian principle, yet one that we often forget. The money we are dealing with here on earth is not real, it's use is terminated the second we are. It's phony money, yet we cry and pray to God over it like it defines our whole existence. Reality is the Kingdom of Heaven. (Luke 12:22-30) It's God who should define us and God who should lead us. Not money telling us we have enough to travel there, or we should spend this much on that person because that's how much they're worth, or we can get this house or that food. I forget this, and it may be possible I'm not the only one. Yes, we need to be wise, but where does the ultimate supply of wisdom come from?

Andreas and I were just talking about this the other day, instead of saying what can I do, to get money for me, what are my gifts, what do I enjoy, how do I want to spend my time making money for my sake... Yes we need to be wise, but we need to take off the focus from us. What does God want me to do, how does God want to provide, what did God equip me with, what does God set in my heart to do, how does God want to spend the time He's given me on the world He created???

Maybe I need to spend more time seeking the Kingdom first rather than seeking the kingdom of my household through money (or 'work'). (Luke 12:31) Because seeking the Kingdom should in turn increase the household of Heaven and that's what we really should be interested in. Right? (that's a little rhetorical question).

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.^BE)"> Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with^BH)"> a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke 12:32-34