MAKE IT YOUR PRIORITY.  Prioritizing involves deciding what is most important to you and giving it the center of your attention while allowing the other things to fall into their proper perspective place. What is most important to you? If it is most important, what position does it now hold in your life?

We are living in very challenging and stressful times in which possession, money, and wealth matter to all. However, if not careful, the pursuit of wealth will pull us away from what really matters, which is our relationship with God and one another. 

Satan uses the things of this world to tempt and lure us to him. However, the Word of God provides us with the guidance needed to avoid his trap. In the Bible, God has provided us with practical guidance on how to live above the stresses of life, and we are given instructions on how to manage the resources He has given us.

In this series, from a biblical perspective, we will look at how to manage effectively the resources God has given us while prioritizing what really matters.

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Asking For God’s Guidance

Holy Father, help us to place things in their proper perspective, not according to our own selfish will, but according to your divine will. In Jesus the Name Amen

How can we determine what is most important to us? Check out your focus. What do you spend most of your time thinking about? In what do you place most of your energies? What are your priorities?

Most of us have our priorities in the wrong place. This is why Jesus, the Master Teacher found it necessary to offer the following instructions on prioritizing. It is found in Mathew 6:19-21

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. (Matthew 6:19–21). 

We have all heard and perhaps read stories of people who have accumulated great wealth only to lose all of it somehow.

In this world there is no consistency, there is no stability, and nothing last forever. Our world is very unstable wars, crime, and natural disasters can come in a moment and destroy everything we have worked for.

As a matter of fact, death also comes with no warning, and at that point, everything we have own becomes useless and valueless.

So what are we saying, are we saying it is wrong to become wealthy or obtain riches?  

No, of course not. That is not what the Bible teaches. But what it does teach us is that we must put it in proper perspective. We must not forget what our top priorities should be and know that money or wealth merely supports our priorities. 

Wealth is a means to an end. Accumulating wealth is not the primary thing we are to be seeking. It is the means to what we desire.

So, what does Jesus mean when He says to store up treasure in heaven? How do you store up treasure in heaven?

The point Jesus is making is that we must put God and His cause first and not money or wealth. Accumulating wealth should not be our top priority. Money and wealth are what we use to support our families, advance God’s work here on earth, and help others who are in need. (Split)

We are advised in the Book, That I May Know Him, to:

 Mark these words of the Great Teacher, who spake as never man spake. He sets before you the course to pursue if you would serve your best interests in this life, and lay up for yourselves an eternal treasure. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.” There is danger of losing all in the pursuit of worldly gain, for in the fervent eagerness for earthly treasure, higher interests are forgotten. . . .

This work of transferring your possessions to the world above is worthy of all your best energies. It is of the highest importance, and involves your eternal interests. That which you bestow in the cause of God is not lost. All that is given for the salvation of souls and the glory of God is invested in the most successful enterprise in this life and in the life to come. Your talents of gold and silver, if given to the exchangers, are gaining continually in value, which will be registered to your account in the kingdom of heaven. You are to be the recipients of the eternal wealth that has increased in the hands of the exchangers. In giving to the work of God, you are laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven. All that you lay up above is secure from disaster and loss and is increasing to an eternal, and enduring, substance.—That I May Know Him, p. 223.

God wants us to advance His kingdom. He wants us to help others and use our money, our wealth, and our talents to be a blessing to others. 

For instance, Abraham was an ancient patriot called by God. When God called Abraham, His plan was to use Abraham and his family to bless all the families on the earth. The Bible says in James 2:23

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. (James 2:23).

Do you see that God called Abraham his friend?

He was considered a companion of God. Thus, in Genesis 12:2 and 3 God tells his friend the following:

2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2, 3).

According to Galatians 3:9, as decedents or seeds of Abraham, we have the same challenge presented to us that was presented to him.

9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:9).

Just as his desire was for Abraham, God wants to bless us to bless others, but first, we must get our priorities straight.

“Money has great value, because it can do great good. In the hands of God’s children it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, and clothing for the naked. It is a defense for the oppressed, and a means of help to the sick. But money is of no more value than sand, only as it is put to use in providing for the necessities of life, in blessing others, and advancing the cause of Christ.” —Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, page 351 

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21).

 Where is your treasure? Is it in heaven or is it on earth? What does your heart tell you?

Here is an interesting thing to contemplate or consider:

“If you have renounced self and given yourself to Christ you are a member of the family of God, and everything in the Father’s house is for you. All the treasures of God are opened to you, both the world that now is and that which is to come. The ministry of angels, the gift of His Spirit, the labors of His servants—all are for you. The world, with everything in it, is yours so far as it can do you good.”—Ellen G. White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 110.

Why not renounce self and all your selfish ambitions and give yourself completely to Christ today? Surrender your life, your all to him. He calls you friend!

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