One day, a man came up to Jesus and asked him to be an arbitrator in settling an estate with his
brother. Sounds like a good thing to do. But Jesus responded swiftly and to the point. “Take care!
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of
possessions.”
Some have taken Jesus’ words to mean that it is better to be poor. But we would be missing the
point. The bible says that it is the “love” of money that is the root of all evil- not money or
possessions in itself. Being rich is not a virtue, but being poor is not a virtue either. It is all about
the heart. If our heart hasn’t changed, a poor person can be just as greedy as someone with much.
But if we live in the proper perspective of what is of eternal worth- it won’t matter whether we
have much or little, but whether we have Christ as our Lord.
What it really all gets down to the first commandment that says: “You shall have no other gods
before me.” because if we don’t get that first one right- we won’t get any of the others right
either. Jesus said that all the commandments can be summarized into two- “love the Lord your
God and your neighbor as yourself.”
It is all about who or what we live for and worship- knowing what is of temporary worth, and
what is of eternal value.
I visited my aunt this week who is having some health issues lately and all she could say- over
and over again was that: “I’m not worth a hoot anymore- I’m not worth anything. This is a
Christian lady who loves the Lord- she knows better.
Makes no difference how old or young you are- or the condition of your health. It makes no
difference what you do or how well you do it. Our worth is not determined by how much money
you have or make.
Our worth is only found in Christ Jesus and Christ alone. There is nothing we can lay down
before the throne of judgement that is worth anything to pay for our sins except Jesus Christ and
what He has done for us.
Writing to the Philippians- Paul lists all his qualifications, his credentials-things that once gave
him his identity-gave him his basis for boasting, his worth before others saying: “If any man
thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of
the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a
Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
But now as a man saved by grace he is able to say: “but whatever gain I had, I found as loss for
the sake of the Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
What a change of perspective and purpose for living! All those things that he once thought were
of utmost importance- they have lost their significance and value. They do not- cannot save. All
those things he strived to do were now considered to be like garbage compared to the surpassing
worth in Jesus Christ.