By having plenty of funds, they can live a certain lifestyle or have the freedom to enjoy anything they wish. Money is helpful when issues arise because we are able to obtain our needs.
There is a certain degree of power that comes with excess money which the natural man typically aspires to. However, having money does not guarantee a happy ending.
I recently watched a movie where two people were playing a word game. The first would give a word and the second would respond with the first word that came to his mind. When the first person said money, the second person said security.
Money can be helpful
I think many people feel this way. By having plenty of funds, they can live a certain lifestyle or have the freedom to enjoy anything they wish. Money is helpful when issues arise because we are able to obtain our needs.
There is a certain degree of power that comes with excess money which the natural man typically aspires to. However, having money does not guarantee a happy ending.
I know many people who, if they had excess funds, would go about doing good with it. It does bring a sense of security, but can it truly fill the needs of what is most important?
What lack I yet?
In the bible, we learn of a rich young ruler who had everything he wished for. He told the Savior how he had kept all the commandments from his youth. When he asked the Master, “what lack I yet?”, we learn what he was told in Matthew 19: 21-24. .
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 ¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
He had asked this young man to give up the life of ease and all the things that guaranteed his security and to put his faith and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ.
I know that I need to rely on the Savior daily for all things; health, strength, charity, ability to pay for our needs, for food, to maintain a home and cars, to meet the needs of my family, for work, etc. When I have enough money to cover all those things, I find that I don’t rely on Him as I should. How can my faith grow if I am not relying on him wholly?
Mosiah 3:19 reads, “ For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
Reliance on the Lord
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin spoke about reliance on the Lord. He said, “Too often today, we do not rely on faith so much as on our own ability to reason and solve problems. If we become ill, modern medicine can work healing miracles. We can travel great distances in a short time. We have at our fingertips information that 500 years ago would have made the poorest man a prince.”1 With the grand blessings we have today, many of which are made available for purchase, in whom do we put our trust?
As the natural man seeks out money and power to rise to greatness, his eternal progress is impeded by a lack of faith in God; a stumbling block on the path to eternity. Yes, money buys everything, but it can’t buy what truly matters.
1 “Shall He Find Faith on the Earth?”, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, General Conference, October 2002