Numbers 7-8

Mark 4:21-41

“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” Proverbs 23:4-5

If there is a part of our lives where we can become weary and burdened, it is in the area of money. If we look around the world today, money is the source of worry, anxiety, stress and tension in many people’s lives. About 78% of people in the United States are living paycheque to paycheque, which means by the end of the month they do not have money left for savings. Among the G7, Canada has the highest household debt, from student loans to car loans to mortgages to credit card debt. In fact, the average credit card debt is about $4,000 for an individual. All of this has an impact on people’s financial security and their stress levels.

In every income bracket, individuals indicate that they would need 10-15% more to be okay. This means people who were earning a salary of $70,000 say they need about $7,000-10,500 more to be okay, or those earning $300,000 would need $30,000-$45,000 to be okay, even those earning $800,000 need $80,000-$120,000 to be okay. This statistic only stops once we get to the top 1% wealthy people, where people are multimillionaires. All this reveals that we struggle to feel like we have enough; we always feel like we need just a little more even when there is revenue pouring into our lives.

Money has moved from being a useful thing in our lives to becoming the ultimate driving force of our lives. Greed is a form of idolatry that Jesus warns against in the Gospel of Luke. He says, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Note that Jesus did not say, “Watch out for adultery. Be on guard against it,” because most people committing adultery know that they are committing adultery. Greed, however, is subtle and will sneak up on us. Most people do not think they are greedy, but the fact that they want more is actually a form of greed.

At the heart of worship is a changing of our heart. As we come before Jesus with our finances, He will deliver us from bondage to breakthrough, from greed to gratitude, from coveting to contentment, from hoarding up resources to helping others and from scarcity to security. As we learn from Him, we discover a journey into freedom from the ways of this world to a joyful embracing of heaven’s value here on earth.

May we spend time today confessing to Jesus how we spend our money and ask Him to help us be good stewards of our resources.

Precious Jesus, I come before You confessing my greed, my coveting, my hoarding and my fear of scarcity. I ask for You to help me break free from the bondage that money has on me so that I can live in Your freedom. Thank You, Lord.