This week, the kids and I (and their other various teachers, who in fact, are awesome) are talking about finances. The bible warns very often about the danger of putting the love of money before God. It is an easy thing to do, especially in our consumer driven culture.
The kids learned about the story of the rich man who asked Jesus what he must do to inherent the kingdom of God (Mark 10:17-31) We learned that he loved money so much that when Jesus told him to sell his things and give it to the poor the man was devastated. We also learned that Jesus loved the man regardless of his sin. We never find out what happens with the man, but I often wonder if this encounter with Jesus eventually had a positive impact on the man, which could have eventually led to repentance. As the bible does not finish the story of this man, we will never know, but it's great to imagine the man doing amazing things for the poor with his wealth.
In Luke 19 we learned of another rich person, Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a rich tax collector who's wealth came from stealing extra taxes. Meeting Jesus had a very different affect on Zacchaeus. He realized the gravity of his sin, and he got rid of his wealth and used it to help people.
We would like to think that these stories do not apply to us, but they most definitely do. One of the biggest things that we worry about is money, but if you take a step back and look at the rest of the world it becomes obvious that we all live like kings. Want proof? Go to http://www.globalrichlist.com/ and enter your income. Even if you make a modest salary by American standards, when compared to the global community you are extremely wealthy.
For convenience sake I am going to calculate a few incomes for you right here on the blog.
The median income for Jasonville IN is 23,208 according to Wikipedia. If you make this much money you rank in the the top 10.46 percent of the world, almost the top 10!
Lets say you make 30,000. That puts you in the top 7.16 percent of richest people in the world!
Now lets jump up to 50,000. If you are making $50,000 it puts you in the top 1 percent wealthiest people in the world!
Now, lets say you are a teenager doing a summer job and you make 2,000 dollars during the whole year. You still make more money than over 80 percent of the world does in 1 year!
Even if you only make 500 dollars in a whole year, you still make more money than 20 percent of the entire world!
I do not put these numbers to make anyone feel guilty. If you make a lot of money then God has blessed you with a good job, and the ability to work. That's awesome! You should thank him for that every single day. Also, you should use some of it to help someone else out. Worldvision is a great way to help less fortunate people in real tangible ways, and it can be a great family activity! Sponsor a child with your kids, or check out the other ways you can help! http://www.worldvision.org/?lpos=top_img_wvLogo
