Yesterday I asked if you would examine your life and see if there was any room for that slithery slimy Serpent to find ways to trick and deceive you. We spoke of several areas of our lives that he would attempt to use deception against us. I'd like to spend the week looking at this in a bit more detail. We will come back to Proverbs and read on in a few days.
The first point I made yesterday, which is the obvious from the passage (verses 10,17) is buying/selling. I think each of us deals with this on a daily basis. Ads, pretty displays, blog posts with 'must have new gadgets' (oops! my toes!)...these all are about the same as a piece of ooey gooey hard to resist chocolate cake! Several times in Proverbs we are warned to be careful in our buying that we are making an informed decision. This day in age we have a great tool to help us make wise decisions about material goods. It's called--The internet. I love that I can just type anything such as recently I typed "EQ7 reviews" and found many to read. This was a big purchase and I wanted to make an informed decision--even if half my blog friends have it and love it. Often I ask friends even in small purchases. Like my recent change in thread. I've been really researching it.
Why be this detailed in even the little things? It's all about good stewardship. If we are being good steward of the money that God provides for us to use, then we won't be deceived by Satan into becoming covetous, greedy, or selfish.
In close, I'd like to leave you with the following verses to look up today:
I Corinthians 4:2-- As stewards of what God has given us, how are we to be found?
1 Timothy 5:8--What very strong warning is issued to believers here?
I Timothy 6:6-10--What can bad stewardship lead to?
Before I "retired", I had my own money and didn't fret about every dime. I of course stuck to a budget tried to spend/save wisely. Since then, I have to be a much better steward, and sometimes I have to admit, I fail. I also have to admit that I'd really love to have the money to blow on unnecessary things, but that is not in God's plan for my life. So, as you do Tonya, I agonize over pretty much everything I purchase, be it a small ticket item or large.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't think I would want to have so much money that it became my idol. As the scripture says, "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil."
You're right....it can be so hard to resist. I have a particularly hard time when my inbox has lovely new fabrics for sale, on clearance, etc.
ReplyDeleteI have to remind myself that I have been gifted with a stash and need to be a good steward. It's a small thing, but it's important.
Like shopping carefully at the grocery store, or for household items. We must learn to be faithful in "little things" before we may be entrusted with "much."
(I've gotten to where I search for Internet reviews on everything, to make certain I'm not wasting the money God has given us.)