MO’ MONEY

“I don’t know what they want from me. It’s like the more money we come across, the more problems we see.” — The Notorious B.I.G.

Matthew 6:24-33
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Luke 3:14

I received an email today from my friend. He works in… money. That’s the best way I can say it; if I said his job title you might get the wrong impression about his line of work, and that would miss the point. Anyway, my buddy told me one of our other buddies had really been hitting home runs at work lately, making some real jack. A little farther down the road of life, a different friend of mine told me I could make some big cash in his line of work also: yet another job in money.

After reading his email, I thought about how I’d just adjusted my own monthly financial statements to account for profits, losses, etc… I had friends making more in a month than I do in 12. And of course I believe that if I so chose, I could do what they do, and do it well. I don’t even need to do it as well, just well enough to break my student debt, pay off my car, and be home each day by 4 pm. Instead, I work days and then a few nights a week, then head to a restaurant to bartend and wait tables. For poor tippers, at that.

No matter how often people with money tell you money won’t make you happy, you can’t help but think, “Sure. Let’s swap places for a while and talk later.”

Jesus said life is more than food and clothes. Money helps with those, but there’s more to life. You, in the back row, I know that you need these to live, but if we’re living for these things, don’t we miss the point? Aren’t there more pressing needs to the big picture of our life? Maybe Jesus was indicating that life is comprised of dreams, passions, relationships, memories, laughter, love. Food and clothes help, but focusing on these is like going to school and concerning yourself only with whether or not you have papers and books and pens.

What are the school supplies you’re concerning yourself with, causing you to miss the lesson?
What “one thing” are you waiting for to make you happy?
How can you value relationships more than material sustenance, today?

Adam