FOUR QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR WALLET

Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 - “Again, I saw vanity under the sun: [8] one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business”

This is not a lazy person. It seems like there’s “no end to all his toil.” He works so hard he “deprives himself from pleasure.” Work, Work, Work. No time for holidays. But for all his work, he never stops long enough to ask the most important question - “For whom am I toiling....?” He’s busy but never asks “TO WHAT END? WHERE IS THIS GOING?” That’s the biggest mistake a worker can make. So let’s ask the right questions:

FOUR QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR WALLET:

1) Is my kingdom giving marked with a generosity that’s proportionate to my total wealth?

People richly devoted to Christ spend their wealth to help others discover Christ.

2) What does my spending say about what makes me truly happy?

Paul called money love a root love. We will all spend our money where our hearts are. If Christ makes you truly happy and content the spending of your wealth will indicate that.

3) What does my spending suggest I’m collecting in this life?

Everything you buy on Amazon is temporary. If eternity is real you simply can’t invest most of your wealth in anything as small and fleeting as material things. If there is an eternity ahead and a God more satisfying than the world and all it holds your wallet should reveal that.

4) Is my spending making a significant difference in the spread of the gospel across the earth?

If the gospel is to run throughout the entire earth it must have people to carry it. These dollars ought to be the most joyful and exciting dollars we spend.

If we were all missionaries we would think differently. We would all see how we fit into this plan. We would make sure, wherever God sent us, we carried out His purposes - His agenda - for the nations of the earth. But most of us aren’t missionaries. Most of us are fairly busy people who try to serve God the best we can where we are.

So here’s my word to ordinary people like we. I want to close with a quote from a man most of you will have never heard of. J.Campbell White wrote these words in 1906:

“Most people aren’t satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the call of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world He came to redeem. Fame, pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans. Those who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards.”

And here’s the thing about J.Campbell White - he was not a missionary. He was not a minister. He never went to Bible College or Seminary. He was the founder of the Laymen’s Missionary Society in 1906. He was a businessman who had the vision to see what God was just starting to do through the Student Volunteer Missionary Movement in Washington, and made this decision in his own heart:

“If the laypeople in North America could see the world as these Christian students see it, they could rise up in their strength and provide all the funds needed for their enterprise.”

And that’s exactly what J.Campbell White did - for the rest of his life and with the rest of his wealth. And the impact on the world was enormous

So here’s the J. Campbell White lesson. To change the world you don’t need a lot of things. You only need to grasp one or two eternal realities and be set on fire by them. This is in everyone’s reach.