To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 8:1-2 “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.”

When you think of the word “wealth,” what do your thoughts turn to?  Most of us think of the rich and famous – people that have more than we do.  We think of large bank accounts, big homes, expensive clothes, fabulous vacations, lots of costly toys, that sort of thing.  However, the Bible warns us of viewing wealth in this way.  It warns us that every treasure on earth is short-lived.  Jesus talked of how treasures on earth can be lost to things like the forces of nature and thieves (Matthew 6:19-20).  As the old saying goes, “you can’t take it with you.” 

However, there is a wealth that is available to everyone for all eternity if we would just take God’s Word to heart.  It’s that type of wealth that Paul is talking about in the verses above as he described the believers from the churches throughout Macedonia. By worldly standards these Christians were living lives of “extreme poverty.”  Yet, Paul speaks of them as those who demonstrated a “wealth of generosity.”  They gave to the Lord and to the needs of others as much as they could.  They viewed giving as a privilege. They gave with a heart of gratitude and joy in response to the grace God had poured into their lives in their salvation.  Their eagerness to give generously was a clear sign of the work that God had done in their hearts.  As they gave, they were “lay(ing) up for (them)selves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20).   Rather than a life focused on the temporary gain of worldly wealth, their focus was on the eternal gain of treasures in heaven. 

Jesus said that where our treasure truly is, there our heart will be also, for the things that truly matter most to us will be clearly reflected in how we use whatever worldly resources God has given us.  Our use of money is one of the clearest indications of our spiritual condition.  Wonderfully, the amount we have is no hindrance to our savings account in heavenly terms.  Jesus explained how God sees it all in the following words: “And he (i.e., Jesus) sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.And he called his disciples to him and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’” (Mark 12:41-44).  As one pastor I heard some time ago put it, “More money will only make you more of what you already are. If you are greedy now, you’ll be even more greedy if you have more money. If you are generous now, you’ll be more generous if you have more money.” 

True wealth: in God’s eyes it’s a condition of the heart reflected in the use of whatever it is that He has given us, and never just the quantity of all the “stuff” that we have.