The love of money, not just money is the root of all evil. Read that
again, the LOVE of money, not money, is the root of all ego. Yet we all strive
to make more money, so we can live a better live, via better toys, bigger homes,
nicer cars, and longer vacations. Normal, but the attitude we do it with is the
most important aspect. Watching a TV show recently, the 5 minute spot was about
a couple who won millions, over $300 of them, and declared on TV, “we’re not
quitting our jobs, this won’t change our lives.” The first lie, because the
fact you won, and are on TV have already changed you. As far as going to work,
now you will have the time to live your dreams, or do you enjoy the long hours
of low pay? If the money isn’t going to change you, can you send me some, it
will change me? And suddenly people come out of the woodwork with deals,
relatives you hated and avoided for years try to reunite with you, and you have
lost your privacy. The IRS has already taken its share, and will be a constant
companion the rest of your life. And you are keeping your job and it won’t
change your life?
I don’t care for the term bucket list, but we all have dreams and desires.
And money not only pays the bills, but is the only thing accepted at my grocery
store, cash or debit or credit. Try trading some live chickens for some fried
ones at KFC-or a bag of potatoes for fries at Mickey D’s, I think you get the
idea. It is money that is a universal trading staple, no matter how rich or how
poor, winner or not. Money talks, %^&*& walks.
Now we all want to get the best deal, so we negotiate when we can. We brag
of when we got a good deal, “look what I bought,” versus when we got a bad deal,
“look how they sold me that car.” Seems it is never our fault, but yet everyone
has his price. When I shop for motorcycle parts, I know the guys at the shops,
and ask “what’s my price?” I like dealer cost, cost plus 10% is still good, but
I try to avoid paying retail when I can. And it always seems there is someone
who tells you “I could have gotten it cheaper,” after you make your best deal.
Thanks a lot pal, where were you when I called prior to buying? But we all have
a price we pay, and we all have a price that we will sell out for. You may be
being tested, or will be tested, but it will happen. Mine came a few years ago
when working the best paying job I ever had. I was accused of proseletyzing,
which I wasn’t, but my boss told me to leave God at home. “It only makes sense
not to bring god to work,” he told me in a group of managers, the same guy who
often had me pray for his family. And it resulted in my losing my job, I was
not going to renounce God for him or anyone. But the loss of money hurt...so I
decided to sue, and had a great case. They even admitted to breaking the law by
telling me that, and we had it from their corporate attorney on paper. But my
heart had been unsettled, the money would have been nice, all 7 figures of it,
but the Lord showed me the importance of my witness. And how suing, and winning
would jaundice any words I once said in love. My last thought was if I ever run
into that person,can I tell them about Jesus in love after winning the law
suit? Would they listen? What was my price for my soul? Was I in it for the
money, or to minister? And so I did the hard thing, but the right thing, and
called off the lawsuit, the day before we were to settle. I cold face them if I
ever saw them, but more importantly I could face God, who I seem to see a lot
of. And I could face myself....what would you have done?
The mercy I had shown my ex-employer, has been shown to me many times
over. The Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have them do to you. I
almost succumbed to another golden rule, he who has the gold rules. And
although winning, it would have cost me dearly. Victory comes to us in strange
ways when we serve the Lord. It turns out my heart and witness was being
tested, I almost threw it away for a million dollars. And yes, it would have
changed my life. But then I remembered it was Jesus Christ who changed my life,
and no amount of money can compare to that. Or the peace he brings. Given the
chance, who do you serve, God or mammon? Is it all about Jesus, or all about
you?
If I was in prison, or dying in a hospital, how would I have spent it? How
could I? Certain conditions follow winning, and do with Christ. He is with you
in jail, and I know he was with me in the hospital. No walls except the ones we
build around our heart can keep him out. So let me close with my favorite
Mother Teresa quote. When being interviewed in an Indian hospital, dysentery
everywhere, flies, bugs, and high heat. Lovely. The interviewer, from the US
of A looked at her and said “I wouldn’t do this for a million dollars.” “I
wouldn’t either,” she replied. You see there are values more valuable than
valuables. Things that cannot be taken from us. For the things seen are
temporal, the things not seen are eternal. What’s you price? And how does it
compare to the price Jesus paid? What if you won the lottery and lost your
soul? Keep your day job....of being a witness of and for Jesus Christ. The
biggest payoff is yet to come, and you will win. You just won’t want to come
back to tell anyone. That’s their job. There are winners, and there are
winners, what’s your price?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com