NOVEMBER 23, 2012
The
Challenge Of Riches
Read: 1 Timothy 6:6-10,17-19
Command
those who are rich in this present age not to . . . trust in uncertain
riches
but in the living God. —1 Timothy 6:17
While
our family was living in Kenya in the 1980s, we drove a young
woman from
Nairobi to visit her parents who lived near Lake Victoria.
On the way, we
stopped in the city of Kisumu to leave our luggage at
a hotel where we would
stay after taking her home. When our friend
saw our hotel room that we
considered an average-size room with
two beds, she said, “All this for only
five of you?” What we considered
ordinary, she saw as luxurious. Riches are
relative, and some of us
who live in prosperous nations have a tendency to
complain about a
standard of living that others would gladly embrace.
Among
the followers of Christ in Ephesus, some had more money
than others. To
Timothy, their pastor, Paul wrote, “Command those
who are rich in this present
age not to be haughty, nor to trust in
uncertain riches but in the living God,
who gives us richly all things
to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). Paul urged them to “be
rich in good works,
ready to give, willing to share” (v.18).
Our
natural tendency is to grasp what we have instead of freely
giving to those in
need. The challenge of riches is living with thankful
hearts to God and open
hands to others.
One grace each child of God can show
Is giving from a willing heart;
Yet, if we wait till riches grow,
It may be that we’ll never start. —D. DeHaan
We make a living by what we get;
we make a life by what we give.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
