God's Retirement Plan

In the previous post, we considered the eternal gold standard. Let's take a look at our western view of retirement savings and God's will in all of this. I will confess that a plump savings will give anyone, including myself, a sense of satisfaction and well-being. I will also confess that a sense of desperation will sieze the same person as he or she watches the balance of an IRA or 401-K crumble and disappear as the economy stumbles or fails. Never have I understood better than now the description that James used as he warned the rich man of the coming moth and rust that corrupt and steal the seemingly sure savings of the rich man's life (James 5:1-5).

We are now in the day of which Jesus spoke as he told of the man who kept building barns to store his wealth:

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:16-21 NIV)

The problem with great savings is the flaw of human nature that says, "I have great wealth, so I will not worry about tomorrow!" or "My faith and well-being lie in the abundance of my bank account!" This pride is insidious enough; the despair that follows the corruption of this bank account will be overwhelming as we find that our faith has NOT been in the provision and wisdom of God, but in our own abilities and resourcefulness.

I have found during these last couple of years that our retirement accounts are merely false hope and misdirected objects of our faith. They may disappear in the blink of an eye. They may be confiscated by a totalitarian regime. We may find that inflation, like the moth, has eaten away the stores that we thought to be safe and secure. Or, we may find that God Himself will one day demand our life, and we will suddenly realize that our faith has been in only the temporal and corruptible, and not in the eternal and incorruptible.

With all of this in mind, let us seek a place where we are dependent on the provision of God every day, as the Israelites, who needed the daily allotment of manna for physical sustenance. With our faith in Him who supplies our every need, we will find ourselves keeping in-step with Him every moment of every day, knowing that our needs will be met directly or indirectly from and through our God, and not through our own efforts or the "largesse" of a nanny government. Are we not much more valuable than the birds of the air? God feeds and clothes them. Will He not much more feed and clothe us, who are made in His image? As Jesus so succinctly said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

"Retirement" is not a biblical concept. Neither are luxury and comfort. Let us "retire" from the worldly view of self-sufficiency, or of dependency on the government's coffers. Let us renew our desire for the Most High God and His Kingdom and His righteousness. As we do, we will find much more than a bulging IRA could ever provide! We will find the bottomless and unending provision of a loving Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

The Eternal Gold Standard

As I listen to the radio and watch TV, I can't help but notice the sharp increase in the promotion of gold as the last sure investment in times of uncertainty. On one hand, buying of gold coins, gold bullion, and gold mutual funds is strongly recommended, even though the price of gold has never been higher. For the person just now getting into gold, the downside is far greater than the upside. On the other hand, jewelry companies and gold-buyers are scrounging the dresser drawers of the desperate and the pockets of the unemployed for every last ounce of old gold rings, earrings and tie tacks. What they pay these desperate people for their tiny bit of gold is obviously low enough to assure them rich profit when they themselves take it to resell to a legitimate gold-buyer. I am being told to buy and sell gold every way I turn. What shall I do?

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold. (Proverbs 3:13-14 NIV)

This was written by the man who, when presented with the opportunity to ask anything of the LORD, asked for wisdom. This exhortation gets to the heart of our dilemma. When called on to buy or sell gold, our best financial counseling lies in the Book of Proverbs. Wisdom and understanding of the heavenly kind are our best investment. They are more profitable than silver and they yield better than gold. King Soloman had so much silver that he had to throw it away, and yet he thought his best investment was in heavenly wisdom!

Wisdom is supreme;
therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have,
get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7 NIV)

Soloman again extols heavenly wisdom as the supreme investment and godly understanding as the ageless and incorruptable substance worth more than any earthly material. In our day, heavenly wisdom is in great shortage, and godly understanding is seldom found. We are governed by a ruling class that covets gold and silver and shuns wisdom and understanding. The intellectual dishonesty of our leaders is breathtaking. King Soloman knew that only with the wisdom of God could he lead his people responsibly and successfully.

My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart. (Proverbs 7:1-3 NIV)

Finally, Soloman exhorts us to not only find wisdom and understanding found in God's words, but to actually store up those words within us. We are to write the commands of God and His words of wisdom on our hearts. We are to memorize and recite the eternal words of knowledge and wisdom, and to literally soak our minds and hearts in God's thoughts and desires, not our own. The man, woman, boy or girl who does this carries in his or her mind the very wisdom and understanding of God of the Universe.

In a day when gold is held in highest esteem and the words of the Bible are trodden under foot, we must set our minds and hearts on Heaven, where the words of the LORD are held in highest esteem and the saints walk on streets paved with the gold that we once held as the last sure investment.

Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom!!!