Jesus spoke often of money. He instructed Peter to go fishing to find money to pay taxes; He discussed Caesar’s portrait on a coin; He told of a servant who buried his master’s money, and He overturned the money changer’s tables in the Temple.
Jesus emphasized that we have to make a conscious decision about money. It must serve us — we must not serve it. Listen to His straightforward warning.
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24).
It seems that Christ was speaking of human masters and servants until He said, “You cannot serve both God and Money.” He stressed that we will server either one or the other.
Once Billy Graham was discussing money when he said: “Tell me what you think about money, and I will tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related.”
Graham continued, “A man’s heart is closer to his wallet than anything else!”
God does not mind our having money, but money must not have us. If so, it becomes our god, for we cannot serve both Christ and money.
Jesus taught that it is better to give than receive, better to share than to keep. In fact, a most significant law of happiness and spiritual success was laid down by Christ in the New Testament.
First, look at what Jesus said: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).
Everything our Lord said was vital and of eternal significance. He gave this reference from Luke as an anchor, a rule—and if we will adhere to it, we will discover an important key to victorious living.
James the apostle warned that some “have hoarded wealth in the last days.” Giving and hoarding are totally opposite concepts, and Christ insisted that we share freely.
Jesus said we must give. He did not say we should do so with the anticipation of receiving. But He did say that if we give we will receive back bountifully, though both what we give and what we receive in return nay not always be in dollars and cents.
With Christ’s law of giving and receiving in mind what should we do about giving to God? Remember, He promised that if we give, the return will be good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, and poured into our laps. What a great promise from a great Lord!
Once the country of Prussia came upon hard times, and King William needed gold. He asked the women of Prussia to donate their jewelry to the country and he was overwhelmed with the great response.
For sometime afterward it was unfashionable for Prussian women to wear jewelry, as they remembered their sacrifice for their homeland.
Are you openhanded toward God? This is no “give me a twenty and you will get back a hundred” prosperity doctrine. It is simply examining where we stand in light of Christ’s law on giving.
A threadbare yet great maxim says, “You can’t outgive God.” We need to reinstitute that philosophy in our lives. God’s work needs the finances to reach a lost world, and we need to grow in Christ by complying with His admonition to give.
If we gave $1 in offerings 30 years ago should we not give $5 now if able? If then we gave $1 in Sunday school, $1 in morning worship, and $1 in the evening, should we not give $15 on Sunday now where possible?
We give three to five times as much for everything we buy today. Why not apply that percentage of increase when giving if God has blessed us? Jesus lays down a great law about giving freely that can be overlooked at great loss.
While Christ stressed the importance of giving in the New Testament, God himself was just as emphatic in the Old Testament.
Speaking through Moses concerning the poor Jews in their newfound homeland of Canaan, God said, “Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to” (Deuteronomy 15:10).
There again is that same promise Christ made in the New Testament — give and it shall be returned to you, bountifully!
R. G. LeTourneau was a Christian manufacturer of heavy earth-moving equipment. One year his profit was much higher than previous years. He decided to invest all the profit that year and the next year give heavily to God’s cause.
However, the investment went sour and he lost all of it. LeTourneau said that in prayer God said “Next time, give me my money and I will invest it.” If you’re going to act for God, do it now!
