“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”
– Luke 16:10-12
We have been talking a lot about storing up Spiritual treasures, and today, I want to tell you that I believe there is a correlation between the principles we’ve been discussing and physical riches. Warren Buffet, arguably the greatest businessman who’s ever lived, spends 80% of his time thinking and reading. The guy has hundreds of thousands of employees and trillions of dollars in assets under his management, yet if you look at his calendar, he spends the bulk of his days just learning and pondering. In the realm of common grace, he is storing up for himself treasures that have made him immensely wealthy. Now, we can’t take these worldly riches with us when we die, but I want to make the point that knowledge is behind most of the material wealth on earth. This is why many ultra-wealthy people who lose everything nearly always rebuild their fortune within five to ten years; that is, with the exception of one group. For those who win the lottery, the statistics are not quite as bright. Interestingly, the majority of people who come into immense wealth without earning it go bankrupt within three to five years. Their riches become more of a curse than a blessing because their focus is on the treasure, not on the wisdom needed to sustain it. There’s a man named Jack Whittaker who won $315 million dollars in the lottery in West Virginia in 2002. Interestingly, he later told Time Magazine that he wished he had torn up the ticket. Since winning, his daughter and granddaughter have died due to drug overdoses, and he has been robbed of half a million dollars. This is not exactly the free and joyful existence you might imagine for one who has won so much worldly treasure. Friend, I believe that being wealthy can be a great blessing, but spiritual wealth far exceeds worldly riches. I encourage you to learn, grow, read, study and have healthy eyes; cultivate wisdom that can handle good fortune by making your relationship with Jesus the most important thing in your life. I promise, you will never regret it; relationships are the only thing that you take with you into eternity, so put them first and other good things will follow! |
Prayer
Jesus, help me to become a person of wisdom; may my relationships with you and with others always be my primary focus.
Reflection
How have wisdom and Spiritual treasure made you a better steward of your worldly wealth?
