THE WISE USE
OF MONEY
"Every man according as he purposeth in his
heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a
cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye,
always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good
work."-- 2Co_9:7-8.
WE MUST not look on money as
our own, for on every coin you may discern the letters: DG., By the Grace of
God. Therefore money is God's gift to us. "Both riches and honour come of
Thee. David was right when he said, after his people and he had made a noble
gift to God's work: "Of Thine own have we given Thee."
But you say: "I earn my
money by the sweat of my brow." Granted; but "thou shalt remember the
Lord thy God; for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth." It is
God who enables us to keep our situations; who delivers us from paralysing
disease, maintains the balance of reason, and renews our daily strength. Is it
not our constant profession that we have devoted to Christ all that we are and
have, and surely this consecration, if it means anything, means that concerning
all that belongs to us we would say to our Lord: "What wouldst Thou have
me to do?"
It is our duty to provide for
our own (1Ti_5:8). It is also right to
hold a certain amount as capital, for the increase of business and the
employment of labour. When a man uses his capital rightly, taking no more than
a legitimate profit for his time, experience, and responsibility, and allowing
his employees to share with him in the overplus, he is doing more real good in
the world than if he gave away his property by distributing a pound each to a
vast number of beggars. We are to be stewards of the Lord Jesus. This is His
own comparison (Mat_25:14).
In order to guard against the
love of money, we should be careful to give a stated proportion to the cause of
Christ. It may seem needless to insert this caution for those who should use
all for Christ. But our hearts are so fickle that we sometimes imagine that we
are giving away a larger share of our income than is the case, unless we are
accurate in adjusting the balance between Christ and ourselves. It is not
possible for one to assign for another the proper proportion, but whatever we
fix, it should be rigorously deducted when we receive our income or wages. In
the first place, give your own selves to Christ, and then all else will fall
into line (2Co_8:5).
PRAYER
Help me, dear Lord, to walk in
the footsteps of Thy holy life. Teach me how to gain by giving, and to find by
losing, according to Thy word. AMEN.
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