Planning for Retirement

The days are evil:

Ephesians 5 warns us to walk as wise, not as unwise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

A friend of mine shared with me a sermon he gave when returned from a trip to Zambia about a year and a half ago.  He had taken the  trip with his eldest daughter and came back with a new passion for advancing the kingdom of God to the uttermost parts of the earth.  He runs a successful business, but returned with almost a distaste for this business.  His business revolves primarily around providing financial security for retirees, but his perspective has changed dramatically since his trip.  One of the questions he now has is why believers have hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars tied up in 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts when there are billions of people in the world who suffer in poverty and who need to be introduced to Jesus.

I think his question is valid.  Is saving for retirement biblical?  This is a difficult question to answer.  Proverbs provides biblical wisdom for the management of personal finances and certainly seems to imply that saving is a good thing.  Jesus, on the other hand, tells of the rich man who must build new barns to store his produce from an abundant harvest.  This man finally decides that he has enough stored that he can take his ease, retire,  and eat, drink and be merry.  Jesus call this man a fool because he will pass away that very night.

What are to make of this?  Is it bad to have a 401(k)?  Should we save at all?  Jesus also states that we should not spend our time worrying about what we will wear or what we will eat.  If God will clothe and feed the birds and the flowers, will He not much more provide for us?  I believe God does want us to save for our future, but with a much longer term plan than we have.

Matthew 6:19-21  Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Now that is planning for retirement.