Love of Money

Imagine being so obsessed with money that you waste your life dreaming of going to a country that will probably never let you in. Imagine being so obsessed with money that you send your kids to live in an orphanage because you don't want to pay for them. Imagine being so obsessed with money that you send your 13 year old daughter out onto the streets to be a prostitute to earn money for you.

These are just a few of the stories I have heard during our time here in Moldova. Our team went to a street kids center last Saturday. When they pick up street kids or underage prostitutes, they send them to this home until they can find relatives or an orphanage to send them to. Our team did a program for the kids, played games, and sang songs with them, then we split up and just hung out with them.

Somehow I ended up in a conversation with the security guard of that home. His name was Sergei and his life dream is to move to America, get a job, get his own house and nice car...basically, the American dream. The problem is, that is the dream of almost everyone we have met here in Moldova. They all want to abandon the sinking ship here and go to greener pastures. I tried to tell Sergei that not everyone in America is rich with their own cars and houses. I told him that many of those who do have those things are not happy and contented. I told him that the road to true contentment and life does not lie in money, but in a true and living relationship with God. But his ears and his heart were closed, clogged by the love of money.

I have been amazed at how often I have seen that gleam of greed in the eyes of people here. And I am not just saying that it is an Eastern European phenomenon. I have seen that gleam in the eyes of Danes, Brits, Americans, Malaysians, and even myself when I think about what I don't have and would like to have. No wonder God talks so much about money in the Bible. No wonder the Proverbs are full of warnings against the love of money. It consumes us humans so easily. But we can't serve two masters, God and money. I may think that of course I don't serve money. I don't have a job, I live in ministry, and friends and family give generously so that we can get by. But just to see me when it looks like we don't have enough money one month...obsessed with money. Of course I need to be responsible with the money God provides, but I do not want to be someone obsessed with money. I do not want my master to be money. But what a tempting master it can be. It's much harder to let go and trust that God will provide. But that is what He calls us to over and over again. Trust Him. Lean on Him.