Trust In The LORD, Not In Money

The Hebrews writer concludes his lengthy letter by exhorting us to show love and keep God's commandments. In my previous blog I commented about his urging us to love strangers. Next he urges us to remember those in prison, honor our marriage partners and avoid the love of money, all important exhortations. I'll not comment about prisoners and marriage partners. I've written extensively about marriage at other times.http:/.  

The Hebrews writer urges us to avoid the love of money with a word we find elsewhere only in Paul's letter to Timothy The word is phil-arguros (love of money) with a negative attached. In speaking about what spiritual leaders are not to be like Paul says,

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer (bishop), he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. - 1Tim 3:1-3 ESV

To discourage all from loving money, the writer quotes the LORD.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" - Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV 

The words are apparently from Moses' final words to Israel when, at age 120, he gazed out at the promised land, knowing that Joshua, not he, was to lead them across the Jordan.

And he said to them, "I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, 'You shall not go over this Jordan.' The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken. And the LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the LORD will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." - Deut 31:2-6 ESV 

These are indeed words we may apply to ourselves when tempted to worship money or fall into the temptation to believe that money is able to provide us with all we need in this life. Note that we are not told that money in itself is evil. It is, after all, nothing more and nothing less than an agreement between two parties to provide goods and/or services. So the paper in my billfold is called "legal tender for all debts, public and private" and is backed by the Federal Reserve of the United States of America and signed by the Treasurer and the Secretary of the Treasury of the same country. I hand over this piece of paper and the other party gives me what we agreed upon. The temptation is to believe that all of our wants and needs in this life can or could be cared for by such exchanges.

Note that Israel was about to enter the land of promise and take it by force under the leadership of Joshua. Those occupying the land would naturally oppose them, but Moses repeatedly pointed out that this land was rightly their's, given to them by the LORD. Those occupying it had no rights to it. It did not belong to them. So Israel was to take back what the LORD had given them centuries before.

This is the thinking of God's children to this day.

The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, - Psa 24:1 ESV

Since the LORD has adopted us and made us members of His family in baptism (Rom. 8:16), we have every reason to believe that He will always care for and provide for us, according to what He determines we need. This is the word of encouragement we always need. And in His Word we place our hope, not in money.

More Pre-Marital Guidance

This week I'm sharing what I talk about with couples planning marriage. As indicated in yesterday's post, these discussions are based upon the guidance of Holy Scripture, particularly the first two chapters of Genesis, as well as our Lord's comments on the same in the Gospel of Matthew.

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." - Matthew 19:3-6 ESV

We're at the second of the three categories guiding our discussions of Leave, Cleave, Weave—

Cleave - "Therefore a man shall . . .  hold fast to his wife."

In a marriage, there is the 'I' space and the 'We' space. Lets talk about your views on having your own space. What are your interests? Will you be pursuing them alone? Is that OK with your spouse? What about separate friends and spending time with your friends? 

Many guys love to devote some of their time to sports, both indoor and out door types. And many gals do too, but sometimes they don't share the same interests. How will you handle that? It is important that you have some frank discussions, most especially about friends. Don't allow them into your marriage. Agreed, men adore their boys' night out and girls, their shopping trips. And you will have friends who'll give you tips on everything from handling problems you might have with your in-laws to tackling your wife's tantrums but remember: friends' advice is often based on their own life experiences. They may or may not work for you. So though you may listen to them, don't always act on them.

And while we're talking about things that don't work out, let us have a frank discussion about money! That's because the money issue will always be a sticky one. Who's managing the money? You've each been handling your own money up to this point. Now you're going to have to do it together—one way or the other. Who of you will be the manager, the bookkeeper, the one who decides about investments? Will you do these things together? If you do, when, how? 

While we're on money, do you have a budget, some plan that helps you know how much you're taking in and how you will use it? Its frightening to realize that so many, many couples have no plans whatsoever for the use of their money. They get all caught up in maxing out their credit cards, in paying 18 to 25% on that borrowed money. They get themselves all tangled up in debt and then quarrel and argue about how they got there. Sit down and work out a budget. Here's some of the questions you'll need to work through. And make sure you write them down so that you both know what you're talking about and where this is going.

1. How much do you expect to take in each month? 
2. How will you keep your records? On a computer? In a book? Decide! 
3. What are the expenses that you must pay, like utilities, mortgage, car payments, etc. 
4. What about expenses that have options built in, things like clothing, hobbies, vacations, even groceries? How much of your budget will be devoted to each of these categories? 
5. What kind of a savings plan do you have? 
6. Do you know the difference between short term and long term savings? 
7. Do you have health, home and car insurances worked out in detail? Will you now merge them? 
8. Do you recognize that your first priority is to give thanks too the LORD who has brought you together and blessed you? How much will you first set aside to acknowledge this so that His kingdom may grow? 
9. What charities have you been supporting? Will this continue? 

You will have arguments and disagreements about similar issues. That is natural—in the good sense. In any discussion you both bring perspectives that can enrich one another. Therefore, be wary of You statements, like, "You always,". . . "You never," etc. That's a very quick way to shut down the conversation by laying guilt on the partner. Do you understand what I'm saying? 

Both of you must also pay attention to the we statements too. If each of you says 'Don't intrude into my space', there'll be nothing left to do together. Make a conscious effort to spend time together despite super busy careers. Simple tasks like doing household chores together can work wonders in strengthening the bond. Plan to continue dating even after marriage. At least once a month make plans for a date for the two of you. This is your time together. 

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OK. All this is more than enough to talk about today. We'll take up our discussion the next time, especially as we talk about weaving your lives together. That's going to get us further into discussions about family, children and commitment. See you then.