Meditation on Wealth

"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings."

This sentence clearly ties worldly wealth to the eternal credit system: people. When Jesus spoke these words, he made it clear that we are to use the things of this world to gain other things of eternal importance. Tucked into this sentence is the real possibility that the world wealth we have may one day cease to exist--be all used up--as we continue to trade for the heavenly currency.

I was taught this while young. As the primary wage earner of a family that now has financial duties to a bank and to the protection of this family, the choice between worldly wealth and heavenly currency has become harder. Yet today's reading cuts through the haze that surrounds my choices, and little lies that I tell myself. Jesus' words are clear. Use world wealth to gain friends for yourself, and you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. And yes, you may go broke in the process.