Begin with a preparatory prayer to ready your heart for the meditation.

You are standing next to God along with many other devout people. Your heart is eager, hoping to grow in desire and knowledge of what is most pleasing to God. To give you spiritual illumination, you are shown three different types of people. All of them have come to possess a good amount of money. And each one wants to handle their wealth in a godly way. They want to let go of any obsessive attachment to money that might negatively impact their relationship with God.

  • The first person wants freedom, but she makes no effort to use her money for God’s purposes until the time of her death. She just never got around to seriously talking to God about it with an open heart.
  • The second person wants greater inner freedom, and he is willing to act now to employ his money. But he is not fully free. Instead of asking what God wants, he prays that God will bless the decisions he has already made about the money. He is not fully open to other Spirit-led possibilities. Therefore, he does not have the inner freedom necessary to make whatever decision God might inspire.
  • The third person also desires inner freedom, but unlike the second person she is willing to approach the money with open palms. She neither wishes for it to be taken from her nor hopes to keep it. All she wants is for her desires (whether to keep it or give it away) to be whatever God wants. She has achieved inner freedom because she is not overly attached to the thing. She desires neither a rich life nor a poor life, but only what will allow her to serve God best. As a result of this inner freedom, she is truly free to make a Spirit inspired decision.

As you meditate on these three responses and the varying levels of inner freedom, consider your own life. What are your attachments? They could be related to any number of things and not just money. In what areas are you more like one of the above three than the other?

Closing Prayer
Lord, help me to make decisions that glorify you and are congruent with your redemptive work.

Note: Keep in mind that inner freedom is not an attempt to eradicate desire. We can strongly desire something and still be willing to do whatever God asks. Inner freedom is an openness of heart.