“I never cared much about money. Except as a way of keeping score.” I read those words from a celebrity last week and thought, “Why should we care about money?”
As Jesus was teaching, somebody asked him to adjudicate the inheritance controversy between him and his brother. Make no mistake: Jesus has the ability and authority to judge any question we may have. So why didn’t Jesus resolve it?
Looking beneath the surface, Jesus saw the motive. In the NLT which I am reading this year, Jesus says, “Guard against greed.” This is a good word for all of us. Even more, “Life is not measured by what you own.” Wait. If life is not measured by what we own, if wealth is not a way of keeping score, then what really matters.
So many things matter more than money. Relationships with our families, for example, matter more. Paul explained it to the church in Corinth some years after Jesus’ ministry, “It would be better for you to be defrauded” than to go to court against your brother (1 Cor. 6:7). If life is not measured by what we own then how is it measured? By whom we love and who loves us.
