It's Only Money

Keep your [life] free from the love of money... Hebrews 13:5
A lot of us think that the goal of work is to accumulate enough money so that we can quit working. No, if your work is not fulfilling, eventually you'll resent it. That's so, whether you make much or little. Money alone is not worth giving your life to. John Ortberg writes, 'I have a friend. He's a businessman. He is in his seventies now. Years ago I attended his church when he gave a terrific message. We talked afterwards and he said to me, "You know, when I was a young man I always felt that I ought to go into pastoral ministry."I asked him, "Why didn't you?"Well, when it came right down to it, it was just money. He was doing well in the business world so he didn't follow what he sensed was God's calling on his life. Now he was financially secure - but he was running out of time. It's only money! We get all twisted up in knots over it, stay awake at night thinking about it, stew, get anxious, scheme, trade away our integrity to get a little more of it... and we worry that somebody else might get hold of it. It's only money! It's never a reason not to follow Christ. It's never a reason not to do the thing that He has called you to do.' Billy Graham hit the bull's-eye when he said, 'If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of his life.' It's okay to make money, and enjoy money, but 'Keep your [life] free from the love of money'.