“RICH AND POOR”
Season: The Book of James
Episode 4: “Rich and Poor”
Today’s Bible Bite: James 1:9-11
Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ4lIvi9rpk (Douglas Talks – What does God want me to do with money?)
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (Matthew 6:19-20, NLT)
The Bible talks a lot about money. God gives us money to use, but too often we use it only for us. Sometimes we can begin to love our money more than we love and trust God. We also sometimes begin thinking that people who are rich are better than people who are poor. James tells us that this thinking is all wrong! It doesn’t matter if you’re poor or rich, God doesn’t have favourites and He loves everyone. A poor person can be thankful, that even though they are poor, God has given them the best gift—a relationship with Him when we believe in Jesus. And a rich person can be thankful that their worth isn’t tied up in their money, because everyone must die and we can’t take our money with us—only the treasure we store up in heaven counts. So how do we store up treasure in heaven? By doing good things for God and helping others, including with our money…no matter how much or little we have.
Think about it...
• God loves people all the same—rich or poor. So, why don’t we?
• James tells people who are poor that they have something to boast about. What is it?
• He also tells people who are rich that they can boast too. What does he tell them it is?
• Money can be both used well and badly. How can we be certain to use the money God gives us well?
Prayer: Thank you, God, for giving us the things we need, even money. Help us never to love money more than you and to remember that you don’t love anyone any less or more based on whether they are rich or poor. Help us to always look to use our money, no matter how much we have, to do good.