Saturday Scripture Speaks #7

11While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. (Matthew 28:11-15 NIV)

I struggle with money - not that I can't handle it or am greedy with it. I just don't have enough of it to pay the bills. Anyone else in that situation these days?

When you have little, you can do one of two things. You can either use what you have for God's service, praising Him and thanking Him for giving you your daily bread.

OR

You can covet your neighbor's money and plot and plan a way to get it.

In this passage from Matthew, some soldiers had been guarding the tomb in which Jesus' body lay. Somehow the stone (huge boulder) had been rolled away and they hadn't a clue as to what had happened. To make matters worse, the body was gone and some women claimed to have seen the risen Christ!

The chief priests and elders began to sweat. They didn't want anyone to believe that Jesus was truly God's Son and that they had killed Him, so they devised a plan to fool people into thinking that Jesus was not alive but that His body had been stolen - by the disciples. To perpetuate this lie they paid the soldiers who'd guarded the tomb to circulate the story.

The soldiers let their love of money cloud their judgment. They took the money (a large sum, the Bible says) and did what was asked of them. They sold their souls for some cash.

In a recessed economy, let's trust God to provide rather than make the same mistake that the soldiers did 2000 years ago. Money doesn't last forever but a saved soul will.