SAVING AND INVESTING
The scriptures refer to saving in a way that is perhaps not intuitive to our worldly understanding. In Luke we learn the importance of where our focus must be when saving.
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"He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a certain rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘This is what I will do; I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:13-21).
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It might be easy to lose sight of the importance of giving, amidst our rush to save and invest. Saving is only as good as it's benefit, not only to ourselves, but to our fellow man in need, and in progressing God's plan for each and every one of us. The scriptures speak of a rich man's difficulty in entering the kingdom of God, such that a Camel can more easily enter through the eye of a needle.
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This is not to say that there is not a purpose in saving and investing. For example, there are multiple verses touching upon importance of inheritance, of leaving things behind for one's children.
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"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children" (Proverbs 13:22).
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"The Lord has greatly blessed my master [Abraham], so that he has become rich; and He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys. Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master in her old age; and he has given him all that he has" (Genesis 24:35-36).
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"Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac [his son]" (Genesis 25:5).
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Ultimately however, the scriptures are extremely clear about the more evil temptations associated with the love of money.
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"But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction" (1 Timothy 6:9).
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It is important to remember the purpose for why we save and invest, and to not lose sight of God's warnings and counsel for us as we strive to move forward, even financially.