In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes Solomon lays out God's Four Foundations of Financial Freedom. The second one is found in Proverbs 21:20, "The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets."
Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest man of his time, says here: You want to be in debt? Make it a habit to live paycheck to paycheck. When money comes in just spend all of it, not saving anything - and you’ll be in debt in no time at all. Why is this the case? Why does NOT saving lead to debt? Because if we don’t save when things are good, we’ll never be ready for when things go bad. We all know that the car is going to need a repair, the AC unit is going to break, and the baby bill is going to be $1,000 or more.
When times are good we need to be saving for the things we know we’re going to need in the future. If we don’t, we’ll end up in debt because when the AC unit breaks, we won’t have the money to replace it, so we’ll have to put it on the credit card or take a loan out from the bank. And that’s a problem because then you’ll pay crazy amounts of interest, which means you’ll pay more for the item than it’s worth, which will only exacerbate your debt dilemma.
So Solomon says: Don’t be foolish! Save for the future. In another verse, Proverbs 6:6-8 Solomon says, “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.” What would happen if the ant didn’t prepare for the winter he knew was coming? He or she would be in trouble, right? That would spell disaster for the ant, right? Well, in the same way, if we don’t prepare financially for expenses we know are coming, we’re going to be in trouble. To not save is to invite financial disaster. It’s how you will most certainly end up in debt. Solomon’s saying: Even an ant with such a tiny brain realizes the need to save - how much more so should we!!!
Why don't we save? Well, we have a heart issue. Our culture calls it “keeping up with the Joneses”. The Bible calls it “envy”. We look around on Facebook and Instagram and see what other people have and we think, “I want that!” so we go after it and try to get it too. We spend every bit of what we could be saving to keep up with our friends and neighbors and co-workers. This is what some call “The Envy Monster”. The envy monster stalks everywhere, never satisfied, always craving more of what other people have. In malls, neighborhoods, schools and offices people compare themselves with others and invariably fall short. But can I tell you the truth about the people you’re envying? They are in more debt than you! The “Joneses” are on the verge of declaring bankruptcy! We’ve got to stop envying others if we’re ever going to start saving.
Listen to me - the more you have the more it costs. Envying others and then trying to get what they have will always lead you closer to debt (or deeper into debt) because the more you have the more it costs. The more you have the more it costs in insurance. The more it costs to maintain it. The more it costs of your time to use it and care for it. So stop envying “the Joneses”. If anything, you should pity them, for God says they’re fools for not saving.
Did you know God measures how wise we are in part by how much we save? The verse we read earlier said “The wise man saves for the future.” So in God’s eyes, how wise are we? The statistics show that we need to grow and make some drastic changes in this area. I read this week that…
We’ve got to make the decision today to be wise by God’s standards. Culture says “Spend it. You deserve it!” God says “Save it! If you can’t afford it don’t buy it!” Who are you going to listen to? Culture or God? If you’ve been doing it culture’s way and you’re in a financial mess, maybe today is the day to start doing your finances God’s way. Just a thought.
Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest man of his time, says here: You want to be in debt? Make it a habit to live paycheck to paycheck. When money comes in just spend all of it, not saving anything - and you’ll be in debt in no time at all. Why is this the case? Why does NOT saving lead to debt? Because if we don’t save when things are good, we’ll never be ready for when things go bad. We all know that the car is going to need a repair, the AC unit is going to break, and the baby bill is going to be $1,000 or more.
When times are good we need to be saving for the things we know we’re going to need in the future. If we don’t, we’ll end up in debt because when the AC unit breaks, we won’t have the money to replace it, so we’ll have to put it on the credit card or take a loan out from the bank. And that’s a problem because then you’ll pay crazy amounts of interest, which means you’ll pay more for the item than it’s worth, which will only exacerbate your debt dilemma.
So Solomon says: Don’t be foolish! Save for the future. In another verse, Proverbs 6:6-8 Solomon says, “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.” What would happen if the ant didn’t prepare for the winter he knew was coming? He or she would be in trouble, right? That would spell disaster for the ant, right? Well, in the same way, if we don’t prepare financially for expenses we know are coming, we’re going to be in trouble. To not save is to invite financial disaster. It’s how you will most certainly end up in debt. Solomon’s saying: Even an ant with such a tiny brain realizes the need to save - how much more so should we!!!
Why don't we save? Well, we have a heart issue. Our culture calls it “keeping up with the Joneses”. The Bible calls it “envy”. We look around on Facebook and Instagram and see what other people have and we think, “I want that!” so we go after it and try to get it too. We spend every bit of what we could be saving to keep up with our friends and neighbors and co-workers. This is what some call “The Envy Monster”. The envy monster stalks everywhere, never satisfied, always craving more of what other people have. In malls, neighborhoods, schools and offices people compare themselves with others and invariably fall short. But can I tell you the truth about the people you’re envying? They are in more debt than you! The “Joneses” are on the verge of declaring bankruptcy! We’ve got to stop envying others if we’re ever going to start saving.
Listen to me - the more you have the more it costs. Envying others and then trying to get what they have will always lead you closer to debt (or deeper into debt) because the more you have the more it costs. The more you have the more it costs in insurance. The more it costs to maintain it. The more it costs of your time to use it and care for it. So stop envying “the Joneses”. If anything, you should pity them, for God says they’re fools for not saving.
Did you know God measures how wise we are in part by how much we save? The verse we read earlier said “The wise man saves for the future.” So in God’s eyes, how wise are we? The statistics show that we need to grow and make some drastic changes in this area. I read this week that…
- The average family in Japan saves about 20% of their income.
- The average family in Europe saves about 18% of their income.
- In America the average family saves nothing.
We’ve got to make the decision today to be wise by God’s standards. Culture says “Spend it. You deserve it!” God says “Save it! If you can’t afford it don’t buy it!” Who are you going to listen to? Culture or God? If you’ve been doing it culture’s way and you’re in a financial mess, maybe today is the day to start doing your finances God’s way. Just a thought.
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