Money can't buy you love

At the time of writing this blog, many football fans will be counting down the last few hours until the football transfer window closes (for the benefit of non fans, the football transfer window is a period during which players can be transferred from one club to another).  Some fans will be hoping that in the last few hours before the window closes their club will make a big signing or two; others will be desperately hoping that their favourite players don't get nabbed by another team at the last minute!

Many people inside football heartily dislike the transfer window system.  After all, it's hard to imagine any other occupation where there are certain periods when an employee is not allowed to move from one job to another!  Hundreds of millions of pounds have changed hand in recent weeks, and to top it all, former Spurs player Gareth Bale has been transferred to Spanish giants Real Madrid for a mind-boggling world record fee of £85m.

Of course it's not only the transfer fee which is enormous.  Bale has reportedly signed a 6-year deal with Real Madrid worth around £300,000 per week.  At a rough calculation it would take me around 14 years to earn what Gareth Bale will earn each week!  Do I begrudge Bale the amount he is receiving?  Well I may not think that anyone is worth that amount, but if Real Madrid have offered to pay him those wages, who am I to complain?  If financial rewards were a major motivating factor for me I would probably never have left the world of accountancy to train for the Methodist ministry!

Funnily enough, the gospel records tell us that Jesus often talked about money and possessions, as did the apostle Paul.  Contrary to what many people believe, it does NOT say in the Bible that 'money is the root of all evil'.  What Paul wrote was, 'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.'   What Paul was warning against was making money our god.  If money and possessions are the driving force of our life, then we are likely to end up sad and disappointed.

There is a passage in the gospels which tells of a rich young ruler who came to Jesus one day with a question about eternal life.  The man had obviously done his best to live an upright life.  Jesus looked into his heart and saw that his riches held him back from true commitment to God.  'Sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me' said Jesus.  Sadly, the man was not able to do as Jesus suggested.  His problem wasn't that he had riches, it was that his riches had him and he couldn't break free.  How sad that he missed out on a life of following Jesus just to hang on to his pile of money.

So whether we have pots of money or very little, the challenge is still the same: do we hold loosely to what we have, being ready to use it wisely and generously?  Or do we make our possessions the centre of our life?  Ultimately we have to make a choice.  As Jesus himself said, 'a person cannot serve both God and money.'

I for one wish Gareth Bale every success in Spain.  He's a great footballer and appears to be a nice young man.  Judging from the reception he's already received from the Spanish fans, he's certainly going to receive all the fame, adulation and monetary rewards he could hope for.  I just hope and pray that he understands that these things are temporary and fading.  As the Beatles so rightly sung, "Money can't buy me love".  Love is far more precious than pounds or euros, and the truest love is found in relationship with God.