POEM: DOWN AND OUT

Envisage your Wealth!

Finance is invariably important to all persons but in most cases, its understanding is clearly amiss, therefore; its accountability by most individuals differ as it is understood differently.

"Money answereth all things" (Ecclesiastes 10:19), this is a fact. Money relieves an individual from so many problems such as social, marital, academicals, economical, and so on.  The function of money is to solve most issues in our lives. But there is a clause to this thought, one must not love money. Is it possible not to love money? Well, I will say an emphatic ‘Yes’!

Greed and discontentment make a whole lot of things and relationships go in shambles. The greed which is born via selfishness, will begat more uncontrollable selfishness. Money is to be controlled not allowed to control us. It is a sad fact however, that many have allowed money to control them. Take the instance of an individual who works and earns say, fifty thousand naira monthly, and whose expense may even be more than his income. Should he be content and have no desire to make more money? Or should his desire to improve on the quality of his lifestyle lead him to unscrupulous deeds?  Of course, not! There should be a balance.

The actions accompanied by our deep thoughts generally show the real persons that we are. Our finances and financing also tell us more about ourselves and our values. For example, a young girl in Junior Secondary School 2 (JSS 2) who believes in saving, saves part of her allowances and is able to get a bicycle; when she gets older, she would be disciplined enough to save for bigger investments. This, sadly, may not be the case of a student who squanders all his/her allowances on frivolities. Granted that Savings may not be as effective as it used to because of the continuous inflation in Nigeria, it is however financially prudent if one can save and make good investments that will yield.

This does not mean you love money, rather it means you are securing your future.

You should therefore;

Want the money! Need the Money! Attract the Money! Envisage your Money and Riches! But, don’t ever “Love the Money”! (1Timothy 6:10)  

It is therefore important to not love money, because it will just become a god, and all god's love to be in control.

The Almighty God created heaven and earth, (Genesis 1). This means He became and is practically the controller of the world. Therefore, the way He wants the earth to be is the way it is. Rain fall in January? You may wonder. It is the way it is. Some call it climate change; it is so because He wants it changing. So, loving money and making it a god means you are yielding yourself to its control and you must go where it leads except you break free.

Unfortunately, many so called Christians involved in businesses or high pressured and prestigious jobs have trivialized the Assembly of God because they have to break even and make fat sales, forgetting that money and wealth should be controlled. After all, it is He (God) who gives us the power to make wealth (Deut. 8:18). Also, In Exodus 20:3 and Deuteronomy 5:7, it says, “worship only God". When you make money your god, by extension you are worshiping it.

It is imperative to recognize that money is good and a defence, however; we must put it in its place as a tool to be used by us to always glorify God.  Our heart desire should be to seek the Giver and not the gift.