2007-11-16
Good Morning God's Treasures,
As you already know, I have been spending time really delving into MT 6: 24-34, Christ's Sermon on the Mount words on mammon, i.e. the material things upon which modern mankind puts so much trust. It must be remembered that in (24) Christ tells us "we can't serve two masters, God and mammon." He goes on to tell us not to worry about our needs, because God will take care of them, just as he does for wild animals. In verse 33, He tells us to "above all else be concerned with the Kingdom of God and what God requires of us." To give us some insight into these things, I have been looking at the section of Proverbs, it's last chapter, PR 31: 10-31. This very important passage describes the ideal wife, but for the purpose of our discussion, these principles actually apply to both sexes. There is one principle for each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. We have already seen this person is: valuable [alpeh]; trustworthy [beit]; righteous [gimmel]; industrious [dalet]; values family [hay]. Today we look at PR 31: 15, "She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant girls what to do." This one would be the Hebrew letter vav.
Obviously, people of today don't have servants. But the principle of being organized does have a direct impact on our handling of mammon. It can be as simple as a person eating before going the grocery store, so he doesn't shop while hungry, and going with a list, so he doesn't buy things not needed. This saves money and waste of food. Or it can apply to not wasting words in prayer. We should remember Christ's Sermon on the Mount teaching about prayer. MT 6: 7-8, "When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that God will hear them because their prayers are long. Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask Him." As for getting up early, we have to be fully aware that there are "larks" and "owls" in our society. A "lark" is a person who does his best early in the morning; an "owl" is a person who does his best later in the day. Regardless of what kind of person one is, if he lives according to God's guidelines, he will get up and be productive for his family in accordance with their needs. Caring for one's family means making personal sacrifices at times for the good of children who must get up early for school or to be at a job on time for his work day. PR 10: 4, "Being lazy will make you poor, but hard work will make you rich." PR 10: 26, "Never get a lazy man to do something for you; he will be as irritating as vinegar on your teeth or smoke in your eyes." If a parent wants to teach young children to love the Lord and live according to Biblical principles, he must do so himself.
We must always be concerned about the physical, emotional, and spiritual welfare of young children, in fact, of children of any age. The example we set for them can have a devastating effect on their lives, if we are not living according to the Lord, or uplifting and beneficial effect, if we are. DT 6: 4-7 is a passage very dear to me as Messianic Jew and should be to everyone. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Never forget these commands that I am giving you today. Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are way, when you are resting and when you are working." These are the Father's very own words, which we call the Shema [shem- ah']. We can teach our children to be conspicuous consumers, or we can teach them to live orderly, hard-working, productive, and non-wasteful lives. As believing adults, it's up to us. God is calling us to put the "rubber to the road" where living out our professed beliefs are concerned. We have a very difficult time teaching our own children the value of using money wisely, doing things like paying down consumer debt, paying off college loans, learning to save money each month, and investing wisely when they are old enough to do so. Suzy Orman, an acknowledged financial expert, tells us that only 1 % of adults in today's society are paying off their credit card bills each month. Thus, the rest are building up consumer debt at alarming rates, and they are opening themselves to having to pay very high interest rates to pay that debt off.
MICAH 6: 8 is an important verse that I will no doubt repeat many times in this series of messages. "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." I look at households where there are godly priorities, like setting good examples for children, keeping the household environment orderly, placing God first in one's lives, and using mammon wisely. What results is productivity, hard work, great relationships with God, and meaningful friendships with others. Households without those things are dealing with drug/alcohol abuse, bankruptcy, divorce, juvenile delinquency, and a host of other problems. And yes, the breakdown of the family unit is our society's most serious problem, one that forces us to ask, "what about tomorrow?" As far as material wealth is concerned, the trite saying, "it won't buy happiness," is true. PS 37:11, "But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace."
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne with heads bowed in reverence to You. Our hearts are full, as we look over the task we are doing in raising our children and in setting an example for them of wise use of our material wealth. We are sinners, and we know that You do not expect perfection. We know that what you want for us is to listen to Your direction and make changes that will bring us into compliance with Your will, to the best of our ability. In PS 37: 23-24, You have told us, "The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." We dedicate ourselves to being open to Your direction. Some of the challenges before us in setting a good example for our children seem insurmountable at times, but You have told us they are not. There are verses all over the Scriptures telling us to use our mammon wisely. Your Son's own words in RO 13: 7-8 are an example, "Pay, then, what you owe them; pay them your personal and property taxes and show respect and honor for them all. Be under obligation to on one-the only obligation you have is to love on another." Father, we know that it is difficult to delay gratification when we want to buy something. But, it is necessary at times to put off buying something, so that money can be available for something more important. You ask us to organize our finances and the rest of our lives, so that we can know Your will for us and obey You. If we are really wise, we will always review the example we set for our children before taking action. We will examine our own households for waste and disorder, and if it is present, we will take action to correct it. We must remember that great price of His own life that Your Son paid for us [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. If You could make that great a sacrifice for us, surely You deserve for us to use the resources You have given us for Your Kingdom. We offer You our love, devotion, worship, thanks, and praise, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, we will examine PR 31: 16, a verse which describes a person who makes wise decisions and follows through on them, which is the Hebrew letter, zayin. Despite all the challenges we face, our Lord is always there for us. He keeps His end of the Covenant of Grace, and we owe our very lives to Him. Surely that is reason enough to remember to offer Him thanks and praise. PS 79: 13, "So we Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture will give thanks to Thee forever; to all generations we will tell of Thy praise." Imagine the impact on our children and grandchildren if they know we are struggling with some kind of problem (possibly a financial one) and they come upon us in prayer offering praise to God! People who do this are people who are faithfully obeying the Lord and putting Him at the center of their lives. They are people who truly believe Christ's words about God's provision. They understand that God allows a carefully measured amount of trouble to happen in our lives, so that they will be forced to be purified and strengthened in their faith by working through this with His help. God's help is always available to His people. PS 46: 1, "God is our Shelter and our Strength, always ready to help in times of trouble." 2 CH 16: 9 lets us know that God reveals Himself in our daily lives. "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." Praise the Lord, as we set upon evaluating our lives, without guilt, and piece by piece, get waste out of them and set a godly example for all the younger people in them.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn