"It takes money to make money!" This principle is seen in the
business world every day. Every business has costs associated with it. Whether it is for
materials or salaries, a business needs money to make money.
Many in the world today buy into programs that promise them that they
will make money without any need for investment. Most of these programs only make money
for those who sell others on the program.
Sadly, many Christians get enslaved to the goal of making large sums of
money. They have bought into the notion that money alone will make them free from worry
and provide security! The truth is they usually increase their worry about making money
and their fear of losing the money they already have.
While some are successful in making large sums of money, most never do.
Even for those who do make substantial income, it does not come cheap. The greatest cost
to those who are involved in making money is usually time. Rarely does a person
make money without spending a considerable amount of time. Often they fail to recognize
the amount of time they are devoting to achieve this goal.
This investment of time diminishes the time they have available to
devote to the Lord’s things. The Lord Himself said, "Ye cannot serve God and
mammon (riches)." (Matt. 6:24) In addition to this consumption of time, there is the
addition cost of stress and the associated problems. Paul warned Timothy of the dangers of
striving for riches when he wrote, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation
and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and
perdition." (1 Tim. 6:9)
Paul, using the illustration of a soldier, said, "No man that
warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier." (2 Tim. 2:4) It is obvious that soldiers do not hold
down several jobs in order to make more money. They are dedicated to their leader and
achieving his goals.
The truth is, if a saint really wants to have time for the Lord, the
assembly, and the family, the devotion of great amounts of time to the making of money has
to be avoided. It may mean things will have to be jettisoned in order to lighten the load
and provide more time. Life is too short and eternity is too long to invest the majority
of our time into that which is temporary. (2 Cor. 4:18)