When you visit the Grand Canyon, you’ll notice they have railings along the rim. But you never hear people question the necessity of these safeguards. It seems appropriate to protect spectators and visitors from getting too close to the edge. Of course, they could let people use their own judgment, but officials likely have discovered that personal judgment cannot always be trusted. 

Throughout the Bible, God gives us railings for the accumulation and use of wealth. These railings come in the form of warnings. Like the railings at the edge of the Grand Canyon, you can hop over them if you choose. But when you do, you put yourself in a dangerous position.

The warnings about wealth in Scripture– always targeted at the heart and grounded in the knowledge of God and our eternal hope– exist to protect us from ourselves. Paul encourages Timothy to warn people in his congregation about wealth: 

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

Throughout Scripture, God’s people are tempted to stop looking at God as the source of goodness and to look at money and material possessions instead for goodness. When you have money in abundance, you tend to feel better about life and the future. But Paul says it is an illusion. 

Scripture reminds us that riches are uncertain. They can’t be counted on. Moreover, their value is limited to this life. They have no eternal value. 

Of course, this isn’t the only place in Scripture where we encounter warnings about wealth. Jesus provided similar warnings. 

• Matt. 6: 19-20: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven”
• Luke 12:15: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Instead of engineering our lives around the accumulation of wealth, the Spirit leads Christians instead to “be rich in good works” and “ready to share.” Especially in a self-centered consumer culture like our own, our natural flesh focuses on accumulating wealth and spending it on things that enhance our comfort. Paul says that our faith in God our provider keeps wealth from playing an outsized role in our lives, and leads us to share it with others. As proof of its declining power over us, we sacrificially give it away. 

Here are three lessons packed into Paul’s warning about the misuse of wealth:

#1: EVERYTHING IS A GIFT FROM GOD

At the end of verse 17, Paul tells us that everything is a gift from God. God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” This isn’t the only time Paul says this. 1 Tim 4:4:  For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 

God isn’t a stingy miser. He’s a God who showers us with gifts. Everything we have is a gift from God. 

But if everything’s a gift from God, why do we still have to get up in the morning and go to work? Paul’s point is that even at work, we are using skills God has given us. We are using a job opportunity he provided us. Even when we apply for jobs and have to give referrals, we depend on people he has put into our lives to help us secure work. Everything is a gift from God. 

Of all people, Christians should have a mindset of abundance as opposed to scarcity. It takes a mindset of abundance to be generous. If resources are scarce, then it certainly makes sense to tightly hold on to everything you have. But that’s not the world we are living in as Christians. We are living in a world ruled by God the Father Almighty who “richly provides”– to us and through us. 

#2: EVERYTHING IS TO BE ENJOYED

God not only richly provides us with everything but Paul says he gives us “everything to enjoy,” (v. 17) The Bible doesn’t say that our wealth is to be loathed or something we should be ashamed of. God says our wealth is meant to be enjoyed. God intends for us to experience the benefit of it even while soberly recognizing the temptation to idolize it.

Paul isn’t encouraging hedonism, where you maximize pleasure. But he is calling us to appreciate and enjoy the benefits of all his gifts to us. The Didache is one of the earliest Christian writings outside of Scripture. It states, “You, almighty Master, created all things for your name’s sake, and gave food and drink to men to enjoy.”

This may seem like news to some of you, but God wants you actually to enjoy your life in this world. The railing at the Grand Canyon is there not because they want to keep you from the best picture possible. Rather, the railing is there to protect you. It’s not there to keep you from joy but from danger. 

Gifts are God’s love language. He enjoys giving them and he wants us to enjoy them. This may sound weird to some of you, but there is a certain type of Christian who feels bad if they actually let themselves enjoy something.

#3: EVERYTHING IS MEANT TO BE SHARED

Paul says Christians are “to be generous and ready to share.” Generosity is a biblical exercise that flows out of a heart changed to set its hope on God our provider.

Grocery stores will sometimes provide free samples of particular items. Studies show that every time a product is sampled, the sales of the product increase. Samples are powerful and persuasive. 

Every time we exercise the generosity the Spirit creates in our hearts, we give the world a sample of God’s generosity. As we share our homes, resources, and time, we provide the world with a sample of what it is like to live in fellowship with our gift-giving God. God gives life to us and puts us in a position to share with others.

The phrase “ready to share” could also be translated as “permitting others to share in what we have.” Permitting others to share in our wealth, our homes, our social networks, and anything else we have. 

God invites us into his life to share in the love that has existed from all eternity between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He permits his Son to be sacrificed in order for us to share in his life. And now, he calls us to imitate him. Christians are called to let others share in what we have. 

As Christians, we need to be reminded why God puts up railings around wealth. Like the Grand Canyon, they aren’t there to rob us of joy. Rather, they exist to protect us from ourselves. We are invited to enjoy fully God’s good gifts in faith and to share them with others. When we neglect these warnings and railings, we put ourselves in peril of stunted faith and counterfeit life.

We praise God for all his goodness to us, which comes in many forms, including material possessions. And we thank God even for the warnings of Scripture. Because Paul reminds us they are given in order that we “may take hold of that which is truly life” (v. 19).