This week’s Bible and Money focus is on Haggai 2:8. If there was ever any doubt as to who is the real owner of our money, God clears it up for us right here in this passage:
“‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” – Haggai 2:8 (NIV)
The book of Haggai is an interesting study of the lives of people who began to think they were owners – not stewards – of their money. They thought they earned the money themselves…instead of realizing that God had entrusted those financial resources to them.
In Haggai 2:8, God literally reminds them who’s the boss. He sets them straight on who really owns the financial resources that they enjoy. He says, “It all belongs to me.”
I don’t know about you, but this is something I need to remind myself every day, with every financial decision I make. All the money and wealth in the world belongs to God and was made by him. Any financial resources that I have were created by God and entrusted by him to me to manage and steward.
And why did God entrust you and me with a certain amount of financial resources? He did it so that we would glorify him through what we do with it.
Interestingly, this verse also says something to those who think that money in itself is evil. If that were true, God would not have anything to do with money – let alone own it all – would he?
So, money isn’t evil in itself. It is a tool that can – and must – be used to glorify God.
Do you ever struggle to remember that God is the true owner of your financial resources?
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Want to study more about the Bible and Money? I recommend you get a copy of The NIV Stewardship Study Bible.
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