Resurrection Sunday is a time of joy, reflection, and renewed purpose. As we celebrate the risen Christ, it is also a fitting moment to examine what Scripture says about one of the most practical areas of daily life: money and wealth. The Bible does not shy away from the topic. While often times these references are more about where your heart is than financial advice, there are definitely concepts that we are to apply to our lives today.
1. The Call to Work — and to Work with Excellence
Scripture is unambiguous: work is not a curse but a calling. The Apostle Paul was direct in his letter to the church at Thessalonica:
"For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.'" — 2 Thessalonians 3:10
Proverbs reinforces this truth with characteristic clarity:
"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." — Proverbs 14:23
"Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest." — Proverbs 6:6–8
But the call to work goes beyond simply earning a wage. Paul instructs believers in Colossians that the quality and spirit of their work matters just as much as the work itself:
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters." — Colossians 3:23
The Teacher in Ecclesiastes echoes this urgency:
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." — Ecclesiastes 9:10
The Christian view of work is that it is an act of worship. We do not merely labor for a paycheck — we bring our best effort to our work as an offering to the Lord who created us with purpose and gifted us with ability.
2. The Importance of Giving and Generosity
If the Bible calls us to work diligently, it equally calls us to hold the fruits of that work with an open hand. Generosity is not merely a nice trait in a believer — it is a mark of genuine faith and a reflection of God's own character as the ultimate Giver.
Proverbs contains a paradox that defies conventional financial logic:
"One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty." — Proverbs 11:24
"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." — Proverbs 3:9–10
The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, captures the spirit of true Christian giving:
"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." — 2 Corinthians 9:7
Paul also recalled the very words of Jesus — words found nowhere in the four Gospels but preserved through the Apostolic tradition:
"It is more blessed to give than to receive." — Acts 20:35
And the principle of sowing and reaping applies directly to generosity:
"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." — 2 Corinthians 9:6–7
Paul's instructions to Timothy remind wealthy believers that generosity is not optional but expected:
"Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." — 1 Timothy 6:17–18
And Jesus Himself set the standard for giving in the Sermon on the Mount — emphasizing motive above all:
"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them... But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." — Matthew 6:1–4
True generosity is not a transaction with God but a transformation of the heart — one that reflects the sacrificial love demonstrated at the cross we remember this weekend.
3. The Heart and Wealth
Perhaps the most urgent warnings in all of Scripture concern not the pursuit of wealth itself, but what the love of wealth can do to the human soul. Paul's familiar words to Timothy are often misquoted — but the precise version is even more sobering:
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." — 1 Timothy 6:10
It is not money that is evil — it is the misplaced love of money that corrupts. Jesus made the exclusive claim on our allegiance unmistakably clear:
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." — Matthew 6:24
The writer of Hebrews offers the antidote to covetousness — contentment grounded not in account balances but in the character of God:
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" — Hebrews 13:5
And Jesus issued this warning directly to a crowd pressing around Him:
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." — Luke 12:15
The resurrection we celebrate this Sunday is proof that true life — abundant, eternal life — is found in Christ alone, not in any portfolio, property, or pile of possessions. Wealth is a tool, not a treasure. The believer's heart must remain anchored to what cannot rust or decay.
4. Faithful Management — Stewardship Over Ownership
The consistent thread running through all of Scripture's financial wisdom is that we are not owners of what we have — we are stewards. God is the ultimate owner; we are managers entrusted with His resources. That calling to manage wisely is not in tension with generosity — it enables it.
Proverbs speaks to the wisdom of living within your means and saving ahead:
"The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down." — Proverbs 21:20
Jesus praised the virtue of forward planning in His parable about building a tower:
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" — Luke 14:28
And in one of His most memorable parables, Jesus painted a vivid portrait of what poor stewardship looks like — and where it leads:
"The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no room to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'" — Luke 12:16–21
This parable is not a condemnation of planning or saving. It is a warning against hoarding with a self-centered, God-excluding heart. The rich man's fatal error was not that he was productive — it was that he built bigger barns for his own comfort while never pausing to ask what the Lord would have him do with the abundance he had been given.
Conclusion: Stewards of a Risen King
As we celebrate Resurrection Sunday, we are reminded that everything — our abilities, our income, our time, our very breath — belong to God. The resurrection changes our relationship to money just as it changes everything else. We work with excellence, "as unto the Lord" (Colossians 3:23), knowing that our ultimate compensation was paid in full at Calvary. As Paul reminds us in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, we are to work and provide for our needs — and in our era, that absolutely includes the responsible, forward-thinking discipline of retirement planning and long-term financial stewardship.
But we must be vigilant not to become the man who tears down his barns to build bigger ones — accumulating for accumulation's sake, trusting in wealth rather than in the God who provides it. We are stewards, not owners. We manage resources that belong to Him, in ways that reflect His priorities: providing for our families, giving generously to those in need, supporting the work of the Church, and leaving a legacy of faithfulness rather than mere financial success.
May this Resurrection weekend renew in each of us a heart that holds money loosely, works with integrity, gives with joy, and plans with wisdom — all to the glory of the One who conquered death and holds every tomorrow in His hands.
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." — Philippians 4:11