The world is groaning under the global economic crisis as governments scramble to prop up failing bastions of greed. The little man in the street takes the full brunt from the excesses of the few who escape into the fantasy of living a life of extravagance.The world systems operate on Buying, Selling or Trading. It’s every man for himself. The catch cry of the day was popularised in the 1987 movie Wall Street, “Greed is good!”
In, “Wall Street”, another exchange sums up the driver of the world’s system when Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) asks, “How much is enough?” to which his mentor, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) replies, “It’s not a question of enough, pal. It’s a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred from one perception to another.”
But consider this:
What good will it be for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? Or what can you give in exchange for your soul?
Matthew 16:26
When Jesus was asked how we should pray, it started this way:
And He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in Heaven, so also on the earth.
Luke 11:2
“Your Kingdom come…As in Heaven, so also on the Earth”. The Kingdom of Heaven here on earth? The Kingdom of Heaven operates on a different economy. It doesn’t buy, sell or trade. The Kingdom of Heaven is based on Giving and Receiving, Sowing and Reaping.
And when we give, know this:
“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-4
In regards to Sowing and Reaping:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. People reap what they sow. Those who sow to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; those who sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:7-9
As mere men, do we still believe in the “Greed is good” paradigm and spend the rest of our lives chasing after an idol, the elusive dollar, to amass great fortune, which could evaporate in an instant? As we have seen recently the financial market has been like shifting sand… so how’s that going for you? Or, do we choose a better way, a rock solid foundation to build upon – the Kingdom of God?
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Matthew 7:24-27
It comes down to a choice: The World System or The Kingdom of God?
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:15
Happy to pursue the current god called the World System, or do you desire to know what it means to Serve the Lord?