It is difficult for us to fully comprehend the relationship that our God,
the Creator of the universe, wants to have with us as human beings. (The
mere idea of it is astounding!) “Behold what manner of love the Father has
bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1, NKJV).
Or as Ellen G. White wrote: “Can any human dignity equal this? What higher
position can we occupy than to be called the sons of the infinite God? . . . Can
any worldly honor equal this?”—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 341. It’s only the dark-
ness of this sin-laden world that causes us not to appreciate fully the status that
we have been given in Jesus.
Yet, if we are not careful, the lure of the world and the things of the world will
pull us away from Christ. The Word of God informs us of the temptations and
allurements of Satan. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a
snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction
and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some
have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through
with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:9, 10, NKJV).
The Lord, however, gives us guidance on how to earn money and utilize it
wisely and not to let it be something that, as Paul warned, can lead to “destruc-
tion and perdition.” In the more than two thousand verses in the Scriptures
that deal with money and possessions and our attitude toward them, God gives
practical instruction on how to live above the stresses of life and to manage in
financially faithful ways what we have been given.
