I often get scam emails where some criminal tries to deceive me into thinking that if I will get some outrageously large amount of wealth if I just pay some preliminary “fees” to clear the way. Of course, those “fees” have cost many people more than they can afford, and the promised wealth (an inheritance, unclaimed funds, or whatever) never appear.
Reality is better than that. The greatest treasure you can imagine: eternal life, a mansion to live in, food for all eternity, great music, fun things to do, great company with good friends, joy, peace, love, righteousness, and more is available as a free gift from God, and He gives it before you pay anything. It is, in fact, a very costly gift that cost God His Son’s blood and more. Yet, because of His great love for us, He gives it for free to all who believe in Jesus Christ. There is no way we can earn that. Nothing in this world can compare to that gift. We don’t have to pay any fees up front. We don’t have to clean ourselves up, first. We don’t have to do anything to earn this great gift except believe in Jesus Christ in our hearts and call him our Lord with our mouth.
Now, once we have this gift of eternal life, the Lord works on teaching us His ways, teaching us to love like Him, and preparing us for life with Him. He also includes us in His work of Salvation by having us show His love and bring His message to every tribe, language, and nation. Now, this does cost us time, money, and all that we are in this world, but it is a great investment in the future of other people. Yes, salvation is already paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ, but it costs us plenty to bring that Good News to others who live far away and who don’t speak the same language. Yet, even then, the Lord provides the resources we need, including enough money to buy whatever we need for transportation, communication, Bible translation, etc. He usually does so through many different people, because He likes to see us work together to do what He wants to do in the world.
One important part of fulfilling the Great Commission is Bible Translation. See the current statistics from Wycliffe Bible Translators, which show both good progress being made and that there is a long way to go. The Lord has given such riches to us. It seems right to spend what we have in this world to help others believe in Jesus Christ so that they may also join is in living with the Lord forever. After all, we already have much greater wealth.