You will have no reward in heaven for what you lay up [keep for yourself]; you will, for what you lay out [give away]. Every [dollar] you put into the earthly bank is sunk: It brings no interest above [in heaven]. But every [dollar] you give to the poor is put into the bank of heaven. And it will bring glorious interest; yea, and, as such, will be accumulating to all eternity.

—Sermon 89, The More Excellent Way 7.37

Notice here the totality of Wesley’s thinking. Life in God is much more than saying our prayers, reading the Bible, or going to church. If we are to have a real relationship with God we are to dedicate every aspect of our lives in obedience to his will, especially our stewardship of the resources with which he blesses us. Wesley is not here telling us never to save money or to plan for our future. No, he simply reminds us that we cannot take our money with us when we die and if we focus our lives on hoarding money, it is likely because either our priorities are out of whack or we simply do not trust God to provide for us. Whatever the reason, it betrays the fact that our god is something other than the one true God and that will necessarily lead to separation from him.

Elsewhere, Wesley counseled his people to make as much money as we can so that we can give away as much money as we can. Do you see the difference here? God expects us to care for the weakest and most vulnerable in society, and one way we do this is through our using our money to help them in their need. Wesley himself reversed tithed, keeping only about 10 percent of what he earned and giving the rest away to help the poor and needy. He got it. He knew what real life is all about. Do you?