Monopoly: Money and Possession Aren't Everything
A Game Night Devotional
Monopoly is a game about acquiring property, collecting money, and trying to bankrupt your opponents. It mimics capitalism and acquisition. But here's what happens inevitably: someone who was winning loses everything. Someone who was losing suddenly thrives. And at the end of the game, when everyone puts the pieces back in the box, all that money and property means nothing. The game ends. The acquisition was temporary.
The spiritual lesson is obvious – yet we ignore it constantly.
We spend our lives acquiring. We work for money. We buy property. We accumulate possessions. We measure success by how much we have. But it's all temporary. One bad diagnosis, one recession, one accident and it can disappear. And when we die, we put all the pieces back in the box and someone else gets to play with what we accumulated.
Jesus understood this completely. He told His followers: don't be anxious about these things. Don't acquire for the sake of acquiring. Acquire only what you need. Give generously. Because "you can't take it with you" – and more importantly, it won't satisfy your soul.
Luke 12:15-21 records Jesus saying: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions... 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?'"
Temporary acquisition. Permanent soul. Where are you investing?
1 Timothy 6:7-10 says: "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that... For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."
Can't take it. Contentment matters. Love of money corrupts.
Matthew 6:19-21 says: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Temporary treasures vs eternal treasures. Where's your heart?
Ecclesiastes 5:15 says: "Everyone comes naked from their mother's womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands."
Nothing to carry. Everything stays.
Proverbs 15:27 says: "The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live."
Greed ruins. Generosity life.
Tomorrow's Practice: This week, look at something you're acquiring or working hard to possess. Ask yourself: will this matter in ten years? In eternity? Then identify something – time, money, energy, attention – that you could redirect from acquisition to generosity. Give something away. Invest in something eternal. Remember: you're putting the pieces back in the box eventually.
Reflection Question: Are you investing your life's energy in acquiring temporary things, or are you building treasures that actually last?