Money, money, money

Give me the desire to obey your laws rather than to get rich.
Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless;
be good to me, as you have promised.     (verses 36,37)

Read Psalm 119:33-40

What is wealth? Pick up a magazine and see how some people become immensely rich. Movie stars buy planes many governments couldn’t afford. Leading figures in some countries own houses that cost more than their country’s welfare budget. Members of royal families possess mansions and art works they’ve done nothing to earn. Then turn the page of the magazine. The same people are divorced, commit suicide, live on drugs.

It’s obvious: money doesn’t buy happiness. It doesn’t buy peace and contentment. Yet – and this is the paradox – we all want money. We seem to think the warning doesn’t apply to us. I’m not rich. I don’t want a fortune – just enough for one more car, an overseas holiday. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

But it is. When money becomes our focus, even if it’s only a small amount, it robs us of time with God. Ultimately riches count for nothing. Our relationship with God is what matters. Pay attention to what is of real worth. Concentrate on the Lord.

Help me to be your child, Lord, not a child of the world. Amen.

by Kathy Hoopmann, in ‘Living Water for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2001)

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