One of a series. . . by Charles Dailey, Northwest College of the Bible Designed to be read in public.

HOW TO LEARN WHAT IS IMPORTANT

When a son gets a car, it is the center of his conversation. When a young lady gets a ring, she loves to show it off and talk about it. If we have a house built, there are thousands of words before we move in. We know what is important to a person by how much they talk about it.

God has revealed himself through the Scriptures. That is the way we can know what is important to Him. The Scriptures use the word faith 451 times. That subject is important to God. Prayer and pray are there 382 times. Based on this, we conclude that prayer is important to God. But amazingly, silver and gold together are listed 802 times, or nearly twice as often as either faith or prayer. While this is a crude measurement of importance, yet those are the facts.

Jesus parables are among his best remembered teachings. Of the 38 parables that are recorded, 16 or nearly half have a stewardship concern. Money matters are important to Jesus.

The New Testament opens with the story of Wise Men bringing gifts to the Baby Jesus. That gold probably financed the quick trip to Egypt to save his life. The New Testament closes with John's description of the New Jerusalem with its streets of gold. To say that the Bible is silent on money and its use is to mentally shut out one of its major themes.

Teachers and preachers of the Word need to consider this balance. If teaching about money is important to God, then the lessons taught to our families at home need to include teaching on money. Lessons brought to classes at church should include teaching on responsible use of finances. If we teach on prayer and faith, we should teach on money, too.

Teaching on financial matters is uncomfortable for most teachers. It takes courage to include it in a lesson when it is distinctly possible that someone will get angry and leave. Perhaps James' statement about teachers fits here:

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Those of us who are listeners can each commend courageous teachers who properly face this responsibility.

Money matters are important to God. We can tell by how much they are spoken of in His Word. They ought to have a similar importance to us.

PRAYER: That we will elevate financial concerns to God's level.

Move to the page above - or - Quick Site Menu