Poison

It's funny how poison can be attractive. When you're a kid, one of the talks you get from your parents is how you need to stay away from all the things under the sink because they can hurt you. Despite this well-reasoned appeal, there are still kids all the time who take a swig of some nice lemon-smelling drink from under the sink and have to be rushed to the emergency room. When we grow up it's not necessarily different. Warnings everywhere tell us the dangers of too much drinking or smoking, but people get addicted all the time--with very sad consequences for themselves and others. Throughout life it seems it is part of the human condition to flirt with what will hurt us or even kill us.

There's another poison that is more alluring and powerful than almost any other, and that is wealth. There's a reason that Jesus kept talking about money over and over and even referred to it as a "master" at one point. For some reason we have an insatiable desire to get more things to show off. And sometimes it's not even the things. We just store up more and more money and fashion our lives around an obsession with having a bigger and bigger bank account. Jesus knew that wealth was poisonous and would keep people from living for him--living the life they were created to live.

Now I know some people who have a ton of money and still center their lives around following Jesus. Money to them is a blessing and a responsibility, and they take getting that money to those who need it very seriously. Just like people invest their time in things that matter, that have eternal implications, these people do the same with their money. The problem is that this is a very difficult thing to do. Those people are kind of like the guy at the zoo who handles the deadly snakes. It's not something just anyone could do. The snake may be amazing and it's great for everyone that there is someone who can handle it well, but not just anyone should try it. Money can also be very powerful and helpful in making a difference for good in the world, but it can also bite you if you're not careful.

The Bible says that it is impossible to chase after both God and money. Loving God will take your heart away from the desire to pursue wealth, and loving wealth will take your heart away from the desire to pursue God. Loving money can keep you from living an amazing life with eternal implications in the story of God. The problem is, we love poison.