Salary Cap Concerns
Scriptural Savings
Proverbs 21:20 / Luke 12: 13-21
Good Morning!
I don’t know if you are aware of it or not, but you awoke this morning to a different world than the one in which you went to bed last night.
While you were sleeping last night, whether it was here at Ledge Park, camping with many of us, or at home in your beds, something changed. When we went to bed last night, it was summer – but as we rise this morning, it is autumn! At 4:51 am the earth achieved autumnal equinox, and fall began.
You didn’t feel it, it happened without your control, and maybe without your knowledge.
Such is the way of life – seasons come and go. We all go through seasons – and changes. Some here this morning have made the seasonal change from elementary school to middle – or middle school to high school, or high school to college. Families go through seasons – childless, preschoolers, teen years, empty nest, the so called, “Golden Years.”
Today’s discussion is particularly appropriate on this day of seasonal change because we are going to talk about a principle that will help to see us through the seasons of life. It’s interesting that both of the churches that have gathered here this morning are engaged in a series of messages about biblical financial concepts – money.
How many of you have gone to church and heard the pastor talk about money? Probably all of us. Now, how many of those pastors talked about “keeping your money” instead of “giving your money”? Probably not very many. But in continuing our series on “Salary Cap Concerns,” today we are going to talk about a very important Biblical principle of money management – Saving.
Some people actually look at Scripture and try to build a case AGAINST savings. They go to Philippians 4:19 and read, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus,” and they say – “I don’t have to save! God will provide. They runt to Luke 12:13-21, where Jesus tells the story of a rich farmer who makes plans to tear down his barns and build bigger ones and save for the future, and God calls him a fool, and they say, “See! Saving is not only a lack of faith it is a sinful act!”
Does God want us to set aside money for future needs, or does he want us to simply “live by faith” and allow him to provide for us when the time comes?
I believe a careful reading of those passages will make it clear that saving is not a sin – the rich farmer was called a “fool” not because he was saving, but because he thought HE was the source of his riches, that HE could secure HIS OWN future, and that He could rest safely in HIS OWN resources. He was a fool because he was rich in the world, but was poverty stricken in his relationship to God.
In Philippians 4, Paul is reassuring the believers that we cannot out-give God. As we are obedient to His urging in our lives to be generous, we can be certain that He will not leave us hanging out to dry.
Savings is, in fact, a vital part of handling our money God’s way. The Bible teaches that saving a portion of our resources for the future is a wise and expected discipline for us to develop. Let’s quickly take a look at a few verses and some principles.
Saving is not a sin. Saving is wise. (Prov. 21:20, Gen. 41:28-37)
Prov. 21:20 “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.”
This verse gives us a description of a wise person. Proverbs also teaches us that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Therefore, according to the Bible, a wise person is one who is a godly person. A person who respects, honors and reveres God in his heart. In this verse, we are told that one further descriptor of a wise, godly person is one of a person who does not use up all of his or her resources every month, but one who stores things up for the future.
There is an incredible example of this principle found in the book of Genesis, where you may remember that Joseph, rotting away in prison, where he has been left unjustly, is suddenly brought before Pharaoh to help him interpret his disturbing dreams…
Gen. 41:28-37 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe….
“And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
And so the story goes. Pharaoh selects Joseph as the one to implement the process of saving during the 7 good years, so that when the 7 years of famine come, they will have what they need.
You might think – yeah – but that was a special circumstance. God supernaturally intervened to tell people the future.
Well, let me tell you something. I can tell you the future, too. If I throw this ball down on the ground, I know exactly what is going to happen. It will bounce back up.
I can also tell you the future. Someday you’re going to get so old you’ll not be able to work 40 hours a week anymore. And when you get that old, you’re still going to need clothes, and groceries, and medicine, and heat in your home.
Someday the car you drove here in is going to need a major repair – or it will need to be replaced.
Someday you or someone you love is going to need hospitalization – and the bills will quickly stack up.
I can predict for you that the seasons of life change – they happen while you sleep – you don’t perceive it, you can’t control it, and sometimes they occur without your knowledge. There’s nothing we can do to stop the seasons of life – but we can prepare for them!
None of us need some sort of miraculous dream and interpretation to tell us that these are things that are coming in all of our futures.
In the story of Joseph – God was pleased to save the whole region because Joseph implemented a savings plan.
Paul further shows this principle when he encouraged the Corinthian church to set aside money regularly according to their income, for a specific purpose, so that there is no frantic gathering when the need arises. We referred to this last week.
God doesn’t want you to be a fool. He wants you to be wise – and part of being wise is planning for the future. Wise Christians prepare for the future without hoarding, like the rich farmer, or worrying, like the Philippian church might have done. Instead, God wants us to be responsible to use the financial resources He is giving us today to help us have what we need in the future. Not in such a way that we’re all worried about the future. Not in such a way that we become greedy and refuse to share our resources with others, but in a responsible and wise manner.
Here are a couple of practical steps to start saving:
1. Create a budget.
We talked about this last week. Remember the verse last week. Proverbs 21:5, (NLT) says, “Careful planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty,” and Proverbs 27:34 says, "Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds."
Work on that budget, and commit to living on no more than what you make.
2. Get out of debt.
The cost of our debt is robbing us of our future! It is imperative that we have a plan to get our of debt. We will be talking about that in two weeks. For today’s purposes, let me give you just two quick verses: “The wicked borrow and do not repay.” (Proverbs 37:21) and “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another…” (Romans. 13:8)
3. Start as early in life as possible – with even $5/week. Proverbs 13:11 says, "He who gathers money little by little makes it grow."
So let me maybe be the first pastor to say this from the pulpit: Save your money! You can not control the seasons of life, but you can prepare for them. The Bible teaches that setting aside a predetermined set of money on a regular basis for your future needs is a wise and godly way to live. But save is only one part of the Financial Wheel – we need to save as part of an overall strategy that includes planning, giving, paying our debts and enjoying the blessings of God. We will be exploring the rest of this strategy in the weeks to come. Be sure to join us!
Prayer.