Four Things Money Can’t Buy
John R. Petrilli

Money. We spend our weekdays earning it, our weekends spending it, and most of our lifetime trying to save it. Financial advisors tell us how to invest it, advertisers tell us how to spend it, and motivational speakers claim to know the secret to making scads of it. But when all’s said and done, money has some major limitations. Its not the answer to all our problems, and, in fact, can solve very few of them. Yet we go right on serving this inanimate entity as if it were some kind of a god. The truth is, money can’t buy a number of things, the very things that make life enjoyable and so worth the living.

CONTRARY TO POPULAR OPINION, MONEY CAN’T BUY LOVE.

The 1960’s witnessed what music historians coined “The British Invasion”. Leading that pack of long-haired rock bands was the Beatles. Released in 1964, their #1 hit “Can’t Buy Me Love” made the correct observation, “I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love!” The Beatles got it right. Money can buy your dream house, your dream vehicle, a summer home, expensive vacations, an exquisite wardrobe, glittering jewelry and the best cuisine available. Money can buy fame, influence, allies, and protection. But, try as you may, money can’t buy you love.

When you come right down to it, love is what we really want and need the most. But genuine love is given voluntarily. It doesn’t need an ulterior, self-seeking motive. It’s given freely by its owner to those deemed worthy (or at times even most unworthy) to receive it. True love never has been, and never will be for sale. Granted, we often express the love we already have for someone by giving them the things money can buy. But we’re in trouble when we begin believing that money can buy love.

When we buy-into the idea that material things will bring us happiness, we invest our lives into keeping up with or surpassing the Joneses. Meanwhile, we’ve often allowed our relationships to suffer the price paid when we chase after the god of materialism.


CONTRARY TO POPULAR OPINION, MONEY CAN’T BUY HEALTH.

Each of us has been given a measure of health, some more than others. Unless someone discovers the proverbial fountain of youth, we can’t buy good health but we can enjoy it [3 John 2]. There seems to be a solid link between obedience to God and good health [Exo. 20:12 ; Eph. 6:2 ; 1 Pet. 3:10], but this must also be kept in balance with the sovereign will and wisdom of God Who allows birth defects and disabling conditions for reasons beyond the limits of our human comprehension.

We can’t buy good health, but we can do our best to maintain it through the development of good health habits and personal hygiene.

We can’t buy good health, but we can certainly take practical steps to improve it, like proper diet and adequate exercise.

But even after we’ve done all the right things, there’s still this thing called “aging” that creeps up on us and gradually robs us of the health we enjoyed in our earlier days. I call it “The Pleasure Curve”. Ecclesiastes 12:1 ff reveals that the sunset years of life are characterized by the increasing loss of physical mobility and sensory capability. As we age, most of us experience a growing loss of physical energy, emotional flexibility, and psychological clarity. Such losses, in turn, lead to a corresponding loss of personal pleasure. All the money in the world cannot eradicate inoperable, irreversible cancer.
No price-tag can be placed on good health because it’s simply not for sale. It’s a gift from almighty God to be received, preserved, and enjoyed.


CONTRARY TO POPULAR OPINION, MONEY CAN’T BUY TIME.

I struck up a conversation with a gentleman who recently retired from 25 years in the military. He’s only 49 years of age, but has put in enough time to qualify for a solid retirement package. When explaining his retirement strategy he stated, “Money can’t buy time”. There’s some excellent wisdom here. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve witnessed the sad occasion where someone has worked hard all their life, only to die shortly after reaching the age of retirement. At the very time when they should reap the fruits of their years of labor, they pass away without a chance to enjoy any of what they so diligently worked and sacrificially saved up for. This is a mystery as well as a human tragedy.

Money cannot possibly buy time because time is a gift from God, not a commercial commodity [Ecclesiastes 2:24 ; 3:13]. While it’s true that time can’t be bought, it’s evident that time can be spent. Time can be spent wisely [Eph. 5:16], or spent foolishly on loose living [Luke 15:13], laziness [Pro.6:10-11], and idle talk [Acts 17:20]. The timing of life has its own schedule, with a right time and a wrong time to do certain things. The timing of many of those “things” is completely outside of our control [Eccl. 3]. Time also has it’s own set of limitations [Psa. 90]. Life insurance companies use what they call a “longevity table” that factors in things like family medical history, genetics, diet, and smoking and drinking habits to estimate the life expectancy of a potential policy holder.

One thing’s for sure, time should never be taken for granted. Our individual date with death is certain [Hebrews 9:27], yet ot remains as unknown as it is unpredictable [Luke 12:16-20]. Tomorrow is never guaranteed [James 4:14-15], and our times are ultimately in God’s hands [Psa. 31:15a]. These truths should not paralyze us, but rather, enable us to function freely and effectively with the confidence that God’s in control and we don’t have to worry or fret about a single detail of our lives.


CONTRARY TO POPULAR OPINION, MONEY CAN’T BUY ETERNAL LIFE.

Jesus made it abundantly clear that salvation is not for sale [Mark 8:36-37]. He stressed the futility and absolute vanity of acquiring great riches at the expense of one’s soul. No amount of money can deal with the sin problem we have going on inside of us. And yes, it’s entirely possible for someone to build an earthly empire, only to leave it all behind and enter into eternity a spiritual pauper doomed to eternal separation from God.

Why can’t money buy eternal life?

Well, for starters, you can’t buy something that someone else has already purchased for you. Our sin has been fully and freely paid for by Christ’s death on the cross. Nothing we can do can contribute to or subtract from His work on the cross in any way, shape or form. Jesus paid it all, and all God’s asking of us is to simply accept what His Son has done on our behalf. Sound unbelievable? Sound absolutely too good to be true? Well, it IS unbelievable, and it IS too good, but it’s NOT untrue! God did all the work in getting our sins paid for. That’s correct, you heard me right the first time, all we have to do is simply ACCEPT the work He did for us. The apostle John puts it this way, “But to all who RECEIVED Him, who believed in His name, He gave the power to become the sons of God”. Accept the Lord Jesus into your heart and life, and you HAVE salvation. It’s just that simple!

Secondly, the price for sin is death, not money. The life of the flesh is in the blood, and a blood sacrifice is God’s prescribed means of balancing the spiritual checkbook, insuring that all debts have been fully paid for.

Most people in most parts of the world haven’t really heard this kind of gospel. Their stuck in a religious rut of trying to do enough good deeds to get them into heaven. But God’s way of salvation is through the cross, and by faith in Jesus’ payment of our sin debt, we’re saved [Rom. 10:8-13]. It’s really up to each of us what we’ll do with God’s offer of the gift of salvation. Acceptance brings salvation and eternal life, while rejection of the gift leaves us in a self-pay status where we have to pay the price for our sins ourselves; and that price is nothing short of an absolute, literal hell for ever and ever.

At the end of the day, while we can’t buy love, we can receive it. While we can’t buy good health, we can enjoy it and do our best to maintain it. While we can’t buy time, we can wisely spend it. And while we can’t buy eternal life, we most certainly can receive it as a free gift from God. The choice is ours. Choose wisely!