As a matter of fact, the entire Bible is filled with stories and teachings about the topic of money. And the reason why Jesus and the Bible itself speaks so often and so forthrightly about money has to do with the second reason why I believe money is a good place for us to start our look at the topic of discipleship in this church, and that is that money is one of the most powerful weapons in the hands of our enemy the devil. The devil throughout history and especially today uses the money to destroy homes, marriages, businesses, countries, and many, many people's personal lives. There's one other reason why I believe money is an excellent place to start in taking a look at what it takes to become a Christian disciple. And the reason is that money is perhaps one of the best indicators we have to tell how we are doing as a disciple of Jesus.
Talk is cheap.
Anyone can talk about what it takes to be a Christian. Anyone can talk about how great God is or what the Bible teaches about certain things. But the true test of a disciple, Jesus said, is found in their fruits, in their actions. And one of the clearest insights I believe you can find into a person, especially here in America, is to see what they do with the money that God gives to them. Now, the book of Ecclesiates, from which we are going to read to this morning, was written by a man who had tons of money.