CHAT WITH GOD ON MONEY

God. Me again.
(How are you lately?)

Very well, thank you. How about yourself?
(We are fine. Thanks for asking.)

Can we talk about something else everyone loves?
(We squared one away yesterday. So what's up today?)

If you name just one greatest invention by man, what would it be?
(Uh, I see where you are coming.)

Money!
(I'd love to talk about it.)

Really? But you sure lack nothing, not even a penny.
(Oh well, my people need lots of it.)

You see, that is a real problem.
(Put the problem on the table. Let's not table it too quickly.)

The bible teaches that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
(Is there anything wrong with this statement?)

Of course not. But many of your people love money a great deal, no less than others.
(I can see that. That includes you.)

Certainly. I once dreamed of becoming an instant millionaire and bought lottery tickets.
(I sure know that history, a few hundred dollars were wasted according to my count.)

No kidding! You really do know the details then.
(Nothing is kept from my sight. English vocabulary has a word for this, omniscience.)

Oh my. I even prayed to become rich and promised to tithe my lottery fortune.
(I heard that prayer many years ago. But I turned a deaf ear to those silly requests and selfish pleas of keeping 90% to himself.)

But you did bless a certain grandma in New Jersey a few years ago.
(Look what she did. She donated ALL her multimillion dollars winning to her church and charities.)

So you approve playing lottery if people are willing to donate it all to charity?
(No, I don't. But I can still make the best out of the worst.)

So just how much money is enough for us?
(Remember the bad old rainy days?)

I sure do. I could not even afford a few Renminbi Yuan in elementary school.
(But you came through alright, did you?)

Thanks for that. I really mean it.
(Remember how much money you opened your first bank account with?)

A paltry ten dollars, to be exact.
(That is a world of fortune to many who do not make ends meet.)

But my bank account waxes and wanes just like the moon.
(Almost everybody else's does that too. You are not an exception.)

But mine went downhill to only nickels and dimes last year.
(That's a pessimistic way of looking at things. Just tally your total asset.)

I get your point. I guess I am a reasonably well to do middle class.
(That economic stratum has the most complaints. Any more grievances?)

Another one: Should we parents save enough money for kids to go to college?
(It is less a question of should than a question of how and how much.)

So how and how much should we do it?
(Plan carefully and live frugally. Save as much as you can.)

But I do not seem to have any left after all the monthly expenses.
(Suppose you really do not have any extra to put away, are you worried then?)

Yes and no.
(Tell me about it.)

Yes, I worry somewhat because a good college now costs tens of thousands of dollars per year.
(Multiply that by four years and then three kids, you may not make it even if you bet your house on it. And what is the no part?)

No, I need not worry because I know we are in your gracious hands of providence.
(So what's the fuss then?)

I guess there is a chasm between the knowledge in mind and assurance in heart.
(Do not worry about the things of this world. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.)

And all these things shall be added unto you.
(Good memory. Any other issues?)

Last one: Should a Christian devote his life to money-making?
(Why not, so long as he earns legitimately and ethically, yet he is not addicted to it and wisely uses it for altruistic ends.)

So you like the shrewd manager that Jesus commended in Luke 16?
(Uh-huh, my people of light should use worldly wealth to gain friends, so that when it is gone, he will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.)

OK, thank you again for another session of chat.
(You are welcome. Do not worry about the greatest human invention. It will amount to next to nothing in my eternal Kingdom.)

(June 9, 2004)