Misplaced
Trust
By
Fred Wikoff
Rich
or poor, mankind has always been obsessed with obtaining monetary wealth. In the United States, the price of gas, food,
and housing, and how to pay for it, presently dominates our everyday thinking. Fanned by this uncertainty we worry about
jobs, inflation, and what the future holds.
Against
such a backdrop it’s not always easy to adhere to Christ’s words: “Do
not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor
about your body, what you shall put on.” Matthew 6:25
It’s
not that Christ is insensitive. Having
lived among us he realizes our worry over every day needs and finding the money
to obtain them. But he also knows that
concern over needs, especially money, has the power to dominate and hold our
thinking.
So
powerful is this influence that, in the familiar story of the rich young ruler,
Christ challenges us to break free from money’s power even if it means giving
it away; and warns that “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.” (See Matthew 19:16-24)
Some
argue that money is not evil but merely a tool that can be used in either a
right or wrong way. This is true in the
strictest since, but does not address the addictive trust and ensuing hold that
it can have. Too easily we are lured into trusting it
instead of God because it can give us the things we need, and replacing God, it
becomes “the root of all evils.”
1Timothy 6:10
It’s
this misplaced trust that Christ is so concerned about, not money itself. Indeed, Christ often speaks lovingly of Abraham, one
of the richest men mentioned in the scriptures; and also blesses the man who
made five talents with what he was given, by giving him even more. (See Matthew
25:14-29)
It’s
not how much wealth we have that really matters, but what we do with what we
are given. The man who made five talents was given more because he trusted God
to continue supplying his needs as he used what he had to further God’s
kingdom. Christ’s plea is for us to set
our financial worries aside, and trust God by using what he has already given
us in a way that is pleasing to him.
Yes,
Satan will still tempt us to worry when things aren’t going as envisioned. But if we truly place our trust in God and
welcome him as the center of our life, the cares of the world will quickly
yield to the joy of serving him.
“For the Gentiles seek all
these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be yours as well.” Matthew 6:32-33
Fred
Wikoff writes from Eugene, Oregon. EugeneSpud@msn.com