IF THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S, WHY
AM I TRYING TO HOLD ONTO EVERYTHING?

[I haven't posted much for several months because of
formatting challenges with this blog site. But I've finally
figured out what I was doing wrong ... ya, it was me, not
the site ... and so now I'll begin posting more regularly.]

PSALM 24:1 (NEW CENTURY VERSION)

1 The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it – the world and all its people.

Do you see what David’s saying here? It’s not complicated, or rocket science. But to believe and accept the truth of David’s words takes SURRENDER, SACRIFICE, TRUST, and FAITH. Four things that can be hard for you and me to have – especially when we’re going through hard times financially, and when we’re struggling to learn the life-important lessons God has for us in these four areas …

• SURRENDER
God gets to tell us how to live life.
Am I listening to God?

• SACRIFICE
God gets to tell me what to hang on to and what to let go of in this life.
Am I obeying God?

• TRUST
God alone can keep me afloat in this life.
Am I chiefly depending on and trusting in God, on myself, or on someone else?

• FAITH
God is reaching out to me, and inviting me to reach out to Him.
Who or what am I holding onto and putting my faith into?

But since we’re not going to spend several months on this topic, and now that we’ve started by looking at David’s foundational truth about WISDOM AND FINANCES found in PSALM 24:1, we’re going to look into some of Jesus Christ’s teachings on finances found in MATTHEW 6, and then we’ll look at three of Solomon’s primary financial principles found in PROVERBS, and consider their application in our lives.

18th-Century British pastor, teacher, evangelist, and author John Wesley enjoyed the security of wealth largely because he wrote theological pamphlets and sold them for a penny each. And in a sermon entitled The Danger of Riches, Wesley offers us three great ideas that set the stage for the rest of what we’ll look at together this morning.

“I EARN all I can, without hurting either soul or body. I SAVE all I can, not willingly wasting anything. And I GIVE all I can, so I am effectually secured from laying up treasures on earth.”

Do you see Wesley’s priorities? EARN, SAVE, GIVE, and then SPEND. Turn with me in your Bibles to MATTHEW 6 and we’ll begin with vv. 19-21.

MATTHEW 6:19-21 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where is your treasure? Are the things you value the most measurable on Excel spreadsheets, calculators, or on stock market charts? Or is what you value and treasure most, the character of Jesus Christ that God longs to see growing in you, and the priorities of the Kingdom of Heaven God longs to see being lived out of you? Like Jesus says here, there’s danger in storing up treasures on this earth. Jesus continues with this important teaching in vv. 22-24 …

MATTHEW 6:22-24 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

None of us can serve God and money. We have to choose. And this is where we have to make up our minds about the irrefutable truth of David’s words in PSALM 24:1 … The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it – the world and all its people.

Do we believe that everything belongs to God … that all that we are, and all that we have is God’s and not ours? Or do we believe that we have what we have because we’ve worked hard for it, because we deserve it, and that if we live our lives with OPEN HANDS everything will slip through our fingers and we’ll be left destitute? Or do we believe that when we live life with OPEN HANDS before God and others that we’ll be able to serve God, AND also be able trust God’s provision for us? Jesus goes on in vv. 25-27 …

MATTHEW 6:25-27 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

25 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

You and I will always depend most on where ever our identity is most deeply rooted. When our IDENTITY is most deeply rooted in Jesus Christ, then He is Who we’ll most depend on. But when our identity is most deeply rooted in ourselves and in what we can accomplish, instead of being rooted in Jesus … then anxiety, depression, jealousy, bondage, comparing, and striving will always be front and center in our lives. Jesus goes on in vv. 28-31 …

MATTHEW 6:28-31 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”

Are you willing to let God take you out of anxiety, depression, jealousy, discontentment, bondage, comparing, and striving … and into His peace, centeredness, freedom, and joy? Is this what you’re longing for? Then build your identity in Jesus Christ and in the truth of King David’s words in PSALM 24:1 …

1 The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it – the world and all its people.

Jesus wraps up this teaching in vv. 32-34 …

MATTHEW 6:32-34 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Do you see the promises God makes to us when we build our lives on His priorities and root our identity in Him? Acceptance of these teachings will equip us to begin living our lives in such a way that we’ll become a WITNESS and a BLESSING to those following us, and point others to the truth of Who God is and to His plans for us.

PSALM 24:1 (NEW CENTURY VERSION)

1 The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it – the world and all its people.

Here are three of the most important principles about WISDOM AND FINANCES that I’ve run into over and over again while reading and studying Solomon’s PROVERBS …

1. GIVE TO GOD FIRST … GOD EXPECTS US TO GIVE TO HIM FIRST … AND NOT OUT OF WHAT’S LEFT OVER AFTER WE’VE DONE WHAT WE WANT TO WITH OUR MONEY EACH MONTH.

2. LIVE WITH OPEN HANDS … WHEN WE GIVE FREELY TO GOD AND TO OTHERS, OUR NEEDS WILL BE MET.

3. CONSISTENCY AND FAITHFULNESS MATTER … REMEMBER THAT THE TORTOISE WON THE RACE, NOT THE RABBIT.

Godspeed.

read.think.pray.live.

Gregg