There are a lot of nice things to see and have in this world. Some things we may never see or experience in a lifetime, because of financial limitations. For that reason, many people spend their life wishing, hoping and sometimes praying for God to “bless” them with an abundance of money. I won’t deny that it would be great for nothing to be out of my reach financially, there would be nothing I’d have to deny myself. But there is one thing I don’t think we consider immediately, and that is the weight of that request.
There is a story in the Bible about a rich ruler who sees Jesus and decides to find out what it takes to have eternal life. Jesus gives him the run down of the commandments he should keep and the ruler says “Well, I’ve been doing that, what else?” Then Jesus tells him to give away everything he owns to the poor and that he’ll get a reward for it in heaven. The ruler didn’t respond, he just went away sad knowing that he had a lot of possessions. After that Jesus says “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:16-23, paraphrased)
So when your desire is to be wealthy, you must realize the risk you run of not making it to heaven. That’s seems kind of extreme, but it’s really that serious. Matthew 6:24 says “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
There are countless other scriptures in the Bible pertaining to money, which further supports how big of a deal it is to ask for and have a large amount of it. The thing is that like I stated before, in this world money can get you everything you want. And on the flip side, many think that they can’t get what they want without it. Because of the “liberty” and access that large amounts of money makes available, it is easy to fall into trusting and hoping in money over trusting and hoping in God. He refuses to be replaced and second to anything. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that anyone should desire to be poor, because God definitely is not. The earth belongs to him and everything in it too, and since we belong to Him, we can have access to His possessions, therefore, we need not worry about being taken care of. But what I am saying is that if you are praying a prayer to be wealthy, also ask for an extremely close relationship with God. If you’re in your right mind, you wouldn’t want to “ball out” on earth and have everything your heart desired, if you knew that once this life was over, you’d be burning for an eternity. Eternity is forever, which can’t be calculated. It just continues and you never die. So, is having a bunch of stuff, that you’ll leave here when you die, worth having only to suffer for a very long time? I would hope your answer is no. It isn’t worth it at all. Of course God wants us to enjoy his creation and see everything he made for our enjoyment, but at some point your desire has to match His, which means that if He gives you a large amount of money, you would feel moved to donate it or use it to be a blessing to someone who does not have. Like I mentioned before, money gives you access to things, so why not share your access with someone who needs it, instead of using it to please and serve only yourself.
Don’t get caught up in the things of this world. If you aren’t careful, they will snatch you from your eternal destiny, which is heaven and what God has in mind for us all. He doesn’t want to send us away, He wants us to return to and remain in Him. So if you feel God has called you to steward a lot of money in your lifetime, stay in constant communion with Him. Hear what He would have you to do with the money and always be willing to give. I am so glad God knows what’s best for us and He saves us from our naive and mindless desires which could lead us away from Him.
Focus on a strong and close relationship with God, so that you are prepared to handle the great wealth He will give you. You don’t want to be dragged away by your youthful lusts and be found displeasing to God because of your love for money.
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