Money, Business, and the Bibleنموونە

What is the Goal of Your Life?

In reading the different Gospel accounts of this encounter, throughout history, this man has been given the title, “The Rich Young Ruler.” What is interesting is that this man has everything the world has to offer - he’s rich, he’s young and he’s powerful. But, he’s also empty. He knows there has to be more to life, so he comes running to Jesus and falls on his knees before Him.

This “Rich Young Ruler” is so much like people today. The world says the goal of your life is to be rich, young, and powerful. Yet, Jesus calls us, as His disciples, to have a different goal for our life. We are not simply called to amass more stuff for ourselves, but to make a difference with our lives, money, and business for the glory of our great God and in serving others.

Jesus shows that money is the chief competitor for our hearts. We all struggle in this area. We think that money will be our provision. Many people think they don’t need God because they have money. Money becomes their “god.” This is why money is the goal of so many people’s lives in the world today.

As Christians, we all struggle because we want to do God’s will, but we also want to live the way of the world. We struggle with money because we are not willing to manage it God’s way. Like the world, we live way above our means. We go into debt to buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have in order to impress people we don’t even know or to portray an image on social media as well as to others. Yet, God has a different plan for our lives and for His people. God has a plan of trust, peace, and purpose in the area of money and business.

Now, this is the only time where Jesus calls someone to “go sell everything and give it to the poor.” Jesus is probably not calling you to do that. But, it begs the question - if Jesus did call you to “go sell everything and give it to the poor,” could you?

Let’s learn to trust God in this area of money. It is not a sin to have money or to make money. There are some rich followers of God in the Bible. However, Jesus does have some strong words for the rich because He knows the temptation that comes. Always remember that everything we have comes from Him. And, always keep knowing and serving Jesus as the goal of our life.