written by Bob Oakley
God tells us that the earth and everything in it is His. He was so intent on us getting this message, He told us more than once:
To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth, and everything in it. (Deuteronomy 10:14)
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1)
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. (1 Corinthians 10:26)
It’s one thing to understand this in our heads, but a different matter to understand it with our hearts. We need to align our hearts and our lives with this truth.
We know that God owns it all. We believe that Christ is the way to heaven. If we believe He will fulfill the promise of salvation, then we should believe that He will provide ALL of our needs. We need to deliberately live that way. We must learn to put our trust – ALL of it – in Him. We must train ourselves to remember and believe: God knows better than we do, He knows our needs, and He promised to meet them. We must discipline ourselves to live accordingly.
The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. (Deuteronomy 28:12)
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
Our spending habits reflect where our hearts are and we, as Christians, too often follow the world’s lead in this area, especially when it comes to credit. When we borrow to pay for our possessions, we are usurping God’s place. Abram made this mistake when he went to his servant, Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So, Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) (Genesis 16:1-3)
Abram borrowed Hagar, rather than waiting for God to provide a son through Sarai as He had promised. It’s a struggle to wait for God to fulfill His promises. His timing doesn’t always match ours; His ways are not the same as our ways. He also often has a very different idea than we of what our needs are.
We harden our hearts against Him when we seek things first, and this is exactly what we do when we disobey His command and borrow money to pay for possessions. We were created to glorify God. In order to truly glorify God, we must strengthen our hearts toward God, rather than hardening them against Him.
Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. (Proverbs 22:26-27)
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8)
When our priorities are in the right place and our hearts are properly aligned with God’s, our primary focus will naturally be to seek Him first in everything we do.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
It’s difficult to focus on God and His priorities when we’re enslaved to our creditors.
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7)
Trusting God’s provision and avoiding debt allows us to purposefully decide where to spend our money, instead of allowing our creditors to decide for us.
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24)
He will also provide enough to share with those in need. If we are consumed with satisfying only our own needs and desires (financial, time, emotional, physical, etc.), we cannot consider or act upon the needs of others. Exercising personal discipline of faith in Jesus, for not only future salvation but also present-day life, allows us to trust in all of God’s promises. We are then able to choose to spend our resources the way He intends.
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. (Proverbs 19:17)
Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. (Proverbs 28:27)
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? (1 John 3:17)
Being kind to others as we were commanded requires that we deny ourselves. We must give our hearts and our service to God; this starts with giving our treasure to God.
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops (Proverbs 3:9)
As we give God our treasure, our hearts and actions will follow.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)
Great article, Bob! Thank you for the reminder.
Great reminder, Bob! Proverbs 22:7 has been my financial guide since about 2008 when I cut up all my credit cards. Didn’t have many, so it was a quick job.
Every time someone has asked me over the years why I don’t have credit cards, I quote Prov. 22:7 and add,” I am a slave to no one but Jesus Christ”. If I don’t have the cash, I don’t buy. And NEVER have I had to go without anything I truly needed!
I am so thankful that Ecuador is still pretty much a “cash” society. Credit cards are rare, and they are rarely used by anyone. Until very recently no banks loaned money for any purchase. You can now get about a 50% loan to purchase a home, terms are very strict, and the balance is all due and payable in 10 years or less. No loans for consumer products or automobiles. A very easy, no stress way to live! Praise God!