An interesting question that was asked of me over Skype at work recently, "what will you do if, right now, somebody gives you $50m?" Not that I don't think about it at times, but I didn't have any sensible answer at that moment, except to thank the philanthropist. The question went on to gather a thread of answers mostly hinged on materialism. One said, she'd buy a car, another said she'd stay in a hotel, leave her current job and be elsewhere.
I read on, and I still couldn't give an answer in the veins of what they were peddling. If I were asked that same question 7 years ago I would have answered the same thing-get an imac, buy the complete Peanuts collection, quit school and travel. As I look back now, I cringed at how short my perspective was then. I valued the here and now so much and did not account the future.
Fast forward to the present day, when so much has already changed, I came across this study about lottery winners and instant millionaires, who squandered their riches almost as instantly as they won it. T. Harv Eker on lottery winners in his Money Blue Print program said "Research has shown again and again that regardless of the size of their winnings, most lottery winners eventually return to their original financial state, the amount they can comfortably handle." One might wonder why this is so, Eker explained that the financial blueprint of these instant millionaires are skewed, focusing on what they can consume rather than what they can invest into. They have started with something big that they couldn't handle.
This reminds me of a verse in the bible that says "Whoever is faithful in small things, shall be faithful in large ones...(Luke 16:10 NLT)." It dawned on me how we focus so much on the here and now, on the material things we want to acquire and amass that we just live mediocre lives and hand-to-mouth existence. In other words, our perspective are so skewed and short. Don't get me wrong, though, I have nothing against the here and now, but if that is all we are living and hoping for then no wonder why we buy the lie that we don't have sufficient reason to be faithful and persevere for the great things that God will entrust to us.
If we were entrusted with great things without being faithful to small ones, it will be the death of us, we will dry up and burn out. God is more concerned about our characters than what he wants us to do or have. Rightly so, because if he were to send us to make disciples of all nations without us being discipled first, or blesses us a big business without having the developed character and wisdom to run it, what glory would it give him?
A world war II story tells us of the allies coordinated a massive build-up of troops and supplies to support a large-scale invasion of Normandy, a small region in France. It was so small that the Germans never though it would not be conquered. But as history shows, the invasion of Normandy led to the restoration of the French Republic, and a significant turning point in the war.
Start small, dream, think, and learn big. The point being is that we have to have a larger and longer perspective and be faithful in small things. Life, after all, is like a chess game, where we have so many moves but we can only dispense them one at a time. And it pays to be 10 moves ahead. It pays to know what the goals and priorities are.
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ReplyDeleteI asked that question just for the fun of it. But in reality, if I were given that kind of money, I'd spend it, like I’ve mentioned, on traveling, film studies, a house, investing in a business, charity, etc.
ReplyDeleteBut does that make one materialistic? Does acquiring that kind of money and being able to afford things that you want and need readily makes one shallow, with a short perspective on life? Does spending money on material things that you want this minute already mean that you no longer care about the future? It’s $50M. You can spend for the now and for the future. :)
Some puritans, or self-righteous people, foolishly think money is evil. According to the Holy Scriptures, it's the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil.
1 Timothy 6:10
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
One should not love money, nor should one put his trust in his material wealth. God is not against material wealth-- nor did He ever prohibit man to attain material wealth. What God says, in many verses in the Bible, is one should NEVER depend on material wealth, never to put your trust in money.
One should put trust in God.
In Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:17-21:
“He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
The rich man in the parable, what was his grave mistake? He foolishly put his whole trust in his wealth. And all he plans to do with his life is eat, drink and be merry. But did he ever remember God? Even remember to thank Him? Worship Him? Serve Him? Obey His commandments? Put his TRUST in God? No.
If one is blessed with material wealth (where one can, say, afford traveling, staying in expensive hotel rooms, buy a car, etc.) one should still put his trust in God, live a humble existence, live a life according to God’s will, in complete obedience to His words, and always prioritize-- put greater value-- on spiritual, rather than material things. In poverty or wealth, in joy or sorrow, in suffering and in comfort, be steadfast in your faith, glorify God, worship and serve Him, and obey his commandments.
So, the important question is, despite acquiring such immense wealth, what do you value in this life? What are your priorities? What do you consider to be the true richness in this life?
Apostle Paul, in fact, even considered everything in this world as garbage, worthless when compared with the value of knowing Christ.
Philippians 3:7-8 (New Living Translation)
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.
Understandably, we don’t know each other that well. Let me just share that I’ve had opportunities in the past that would have made me rich, or more fulfilled career-wise. But throughout my history of work experience, I always chose the kind of jobs that will not hinder me from what I value the most: my service to God.
May oras para magpakayaman sa panananampalataya. :)
http://stephaniemayo.blogspot.com/
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