Response Blog #4

 In a news article from 2019, it was found that about 40% of the people who moved to Florida moved there for the sake of retirement. This seems like it is the landing spot for everyone who retires. Everyone always wants to move to Florida. But why? It would not take one long to speculate that this is because (at least weather wise) Florida is the closest thing to paradise. There's the 80 degree waters, the long beaches, the hot summers. People move there because it is seemingly perfect (until a hurricane comes and destroys everything you own). 

Paul Tripp speaks of something along these lines in his book Sex and Money. In the book, he talks about how eternity relates to us as people, and to our money/belongings. One thing that Tripp emphasizes is that if one is focused on eternity, their sex and money issues tend to decrease. But why is this so?

We all have a values problem. Here it is: this side of eternity it is very hard to value in our heart what God says is important. Things tend to rise in levels of importance way beyond their true importance and command the attention, allegiance, and investment of our heart. It’s not wrong to want a comfortable life, but comfort must not rule our heart. It’s not wrong to desire beautiful surroundings, but the physical beauty of the place we live must not rule our heart. This is where Christ’s word “treasure” is helpful. Few of the treasures that become important to us have intrinsic value. That’s what is behind the old saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” We are constantly assigning value to things, and once we have worked to gain those things, we work to maintain, enjoy, and protect them. So whether we know it or not, we always spend our money in pursuit of what we consider valuable. In our everyday life, to the degree that we value what God says is valuable, to that degree we will spend our money wisely.

Mankind, who has fallen into sin, desires paradise, yet lacks it, and lacks it to the fullest extent. It also does not help that we live in a culture which worships things. The combination of those two factors causes people to attempt creating paradise here on earth. This is where things like the prosperity gospel come from; we want all of the health and wealth now, while God has promised those things for eternity. So how then should we think about our money and possessions? Paul instructs us well in 1 Timothy 6, where he tells us that we have brought nothing into this world, and we will bring nothing out of it. With this in mind, we should be equipped to not hold onto anything of this world too tightly. Our ultimate possession (if we are in Christ) is God himself. We will be his people and He will be our God. Our main goal here on earth is to make disciples of all nations, bringing them under the Lordship of Christ to the glory of God the Father. Material wealth, while it is not necessarily evil (for the Scriptures do not state this) can and will lead to idolatry if your desires are not under control. "For the love of money is the root of all evil", and "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon". 


Therefore let us,

  • Be in prayer constantly that idolatry might not be in our hearts
  • Meditate on the scriptures which mention such things (some mentioned above)
  • Build accountability with others concerning what we do with our money
  • Contemplate the things that God has promised for eternity, things which we are not promised now, and thank Him for those things. 

Here is a link to a classic book on the topic of earthly-mindedness: https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/burroughs/earthly_mindedness_p.pdf


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