Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.
When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
—Proverbs 23:4-5
Treasure in Heaven
by Joe White
I love how practical the Bible can be. This is certainly true when it comes to its teaching on money. In addition to appealing to our hearts (“the love of money is the root of all evil”, for instance), passages like this in Proverbs 23 appeal to our logic. In effect, this passage is saying, “Why make the pursuit of wealth your goal when you’re not going to be able to take any of it with you?” Similarly, Jesus appealed to our left brain when he said, "Do not store up treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy… but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven" (Matthew 6:19-20). So much of our energy is spent acquiring wealth that isn’t eternal. What if we shifted our focus toward storing up treasures in the kingdom? What if today we sought out ways to be generous for the sake of others? What if we leveraged the resources God has given us toward making an impact? What if our true treasure was the gospel of Jesus Christ? Let’s spend some time today praying toward that end!
How to pray today:
From our deacon team and elders: pray that we would all grow in the grace and joy of generous financial giving. Ask God to provide full funding for all the ministries of Lake Baldwin Church.
Pray for those in our church family who are going through financial hardship or difficult medical challenges. If you can think of individuals, pray for them by name.
Ed and Candice Holtz give leadership to Cru City, with a team leading ministries around the city. Pray for the development of “missional communities” among the homeless, high school athletes, business leaders, and more. Also, pray for the new podcast LiveAlive, which makes the Cru City witnessing training (Living and Telling) available to more people.