Mark 10:17-23

How does money rate in your life?  Is it very important, (thinking constantly of money or how to get money, or money problems, or how much we don’t have)? In our greedy society, we have game shows that give hundreds of dollars to millions of dollars to contestants that answer a puzzle or answer some trivial question.  We are sold the idea that having money will solve all our problems and it should be easy to get.  Then the question is how much will it take?

Some time ago a company that I worked for sent me on a business trip.  I was to keep receipts and then turn them in for reimbursement. This particular trip there was $1,000 in receipts turned in.  I handed them to the manager and left the office. The manager declared that he never received them.  At that time in my life we were not making even minimum wage.  $1,000 is a lot of money, not only then but now also.

I requested the payment several times before they told me that they couldn’t pay without the receipts.  They asked me if I had a duplicate copy of each receipt.  Of course, I didn’t and so therein lies the dilemma.

For several days that turned into weeks and then into a couple of months, I would wake in the night and the first thing that came to mind was that $1,000!  Throughout each day I would have that money on my mind.  I regret that I had the usual thoughts that anyone else would have, such as, a stick in their eye, go in and stomp on their foot, burn the building down, etc.  Of course I was not going to do that, but it seemed to take over my thought at any time.

Solution: After a couple of months of this torturing myself with these thoughts, I came to realize that my new Christian life was going nowhere.  No peace, no joy, just the constant thought of that $1,000.

One night I woke and prayed from the deep of my heart, “Lord, I give that $1,000 dollars to you.  You collect it if you want to.  As a matter of fact if they decide to send it to me I promise that I will send it back!  I don’t want it, it belongs to you to either forget it or collect it.  But, as for my part I don’t want anything to do with it. IT IS YOURS!!!!

I never missed another night’s sleep over it and it faded ever so peacefully out of my mind.

Several times in my life since, I have had to do the same thing in order to keep peace in my soul.  When my money was stolen, three other times, I gave it to God to collect so I could forget it and not have the storms in my heart.  I thank God for the lesson learned and applied.  A right relationship and peace with my Lord is all I need.

I’m so sorry that rich young man didn’t learn the lesson, I learned, that day with Jesus.  Instead he went away sorrowful.

Just a thought