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Personal Finance Bible Study: Work (Part 3 of 15) – Providing for Our Needs

Corey —  October 21, 2010

       We’ve already seen that God desires Christians to work hard as a way to glorify His name. But that’s not the only reason He calls us to work. There is value in hard work, and these tangible benefits are impossible to achieve without effort. Today, we’ll look at how hard work provides for our material needs.

Will Work for Food

       With the money we earn from work, we can buy the things we need. Food and water, shelter, clothing, fuel for warmth in the winter, and other necessities can only be obtained when we are willing to work for them. This could mean earning the money to buy those things, or putting in the time and effort to make or produce those things ourselves. Unless we are willing to work hard, we will not get the things we need to survive.

       One who works his land will have an abundance of food; but one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

Proverbs 28:19 (WEB)

       Working hard with what God gave us will provide an abundance for our needs. But sitting around talking about what we could do or will do brings us nothing but poverty. This clear advice from Proverbs tells us that we need to focus on actually doing the needed work instead of chasing fantasies. Those dreams of getting easy riches from the stock market or some get-rich-quick scheme will bring you no closer to actually meeting your needs.

       In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty.

Proverbs 14:23 (WEB)

       Hard work will provide for our needs. Talking about our needs and how we wish we had the money to get the things we need does absolutely nothing to bring us closer to meeting our needs. God’s wisdom has not changed throughout the ages – this is as true today as it ever was in the past.

       Before I go much further, I want to stop and look at what our needs really are. When I’m talking about needs, I mean the things we actually need to survive. Food, clothing, a place to live, a way to stay warm in the winter, transportation to our jobs (if necessary), etc. – these are things required to survive. Cell phones, cable/satellite, entertainment, eating out, internet, and other things that aren’t absolutely necessary for our survival are luxuries or wants. We’ve forgotten these definitions of needs and wants in the U.S., but spend any amount of time learning about living conditions in third-world countries and you’ll start to realize how easy we have it here.

       It’s important we understand the difference between needs and wants when we start talking about budgeting or giving. Part of denying yourself and taking up your cross is realizing what the “wants” are in your life and choosing to forgo those in order to help the poor. In some cases, this may even mean helping yourself. If you’re struggling to get by every week and keep going deeper in debt, one of the first things you need to do is break down your expenses into absolute needs and unnecessary wants. Eliminating the wants can give you the cash flow you need to make it to the next week and begin getting out of debt.

       Once we know what our real needs are, we know what our soul desires and requires to survive. Then, through hard work we can meet the desires of our soul:

       The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

Proverbs 13:4 (WEB)

       God can bless us and fully satisfy our needs. But we must be willing to work hard instead of sitting around waiting for God to hand everything over to us. Working hard is no guarantee that we’ll get everything we want. But God promises to meet our needs if we diligently work and trust in Him.

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Personal Finance Bible Study: Work (Part 2 of 15) – Called to Work

Corey —  October 14, 2010

       In the last part of this series, we looked at how God created us to work and our need to work. Today, we’re going to look at God’s call for Christians to work hard.

Glorifying God with Our Work

       There are many examples in the Bible where God calls us to good works for His glory. However, we’re going to look at a few that specifically pertain to our temporal work as a means of glorifying God.

       In 1 Thessalonians, Paul encourages the church at Thessalonica to lead lives that will set a good example to those outside the church:

       11 …and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (WEB)

       When we work hard and lead respectable lives we glorify God’s name. We show people the fruits of the Spirit within our lives and give them no reason for attacking the Church because of our actions. Our honest work also provides for our needs and beyond, enabling us to honor God by giving to the needs of others as well:

       34 You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me. 35 In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

Acts 20:34-35 (WEB)

       We ought to work hard so that we can support ourselves and have more left over to give to those in need. It is in this way that we can honor Jesus’ teaching to give generously and care for the poor. When we combine our hard work with contentment in Christ, we’ll find that we have even more to give to the poor. If we can be content but continue to earn more, we can do even more in Christ’s name and to the glory of God.

       When we accept Christ, our entire mindset changes. We are no longer concerned only about ourselves and our own needs. Christ’s love in our hearts urges us to do what we can for those in need – even changing those who were thieves into workers for God:

       Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.

Ephesians 4:28 (WEB)

       It is with that mindset we should approach all our work. We are no longer working just to meet our own needs (and then our wants) – but we are working so we will have something to give to the needy. And all this is not for our own glory and recognition, but all for the glory and honor of God.

       So let’s remember that when we work, we should work as if we’re working for the Lord. (Colossians 3:23-24) For the fruits of our labor will further the fruits of the Spirit by enabling us to give more and more in Christ’s name. And it is in this way that our work can glorify God.

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Personal Finance Bible Study: Work (Part 1 of 15) – Made to Work

Corey —  October 7, 2010

       In the next part of our Personal Finance Bible Study, we’ll look at God’s desire for Christians to work hard and diligently. While contentment helps us to spend less money, hard work helps us to earn more money. When combined, these two values create a powerful force for giving generously in God’s name.

       We’ll begin this part of the Personal Finance Bible Study by looking at God’s call for Christians to work. Next, we’ll talk about the value of work in our lives. Then we’ll look at the dangers of too much rest, followed by the need for rest. We’ll finish up by discussing God’s business values and ethics so we can honor Him in our work.

We Were Made to Work

       From the very beginning of Creation, part of our purpose was to work. When God created Adam, we see that He assigned Adam the task of working in the garden of Eden:

       Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Genesis 2:15 (WEB)

       Part of the way we honor and worship God is by working to glorify Him. God created Adam and put him in the garden to work. Our human nature has not changed since then. We still need to work to honor God. Our work may look very different from Adam’s, but there is still work we must do.

We Need to Work

       Government aid programs aside, we cannot survive for long if we do not work. If we do not work, we cannot earn money. (All forms of income require work at some point in time.) It’s as simple as sowing and reaping. If you don’t plant a garden in the spring, you’re not going to have vegetables growing in your back yard in the summer. It’s also true that the harder we work, the more likely we are to find success. Solomon gives this advice clearly in Ecclesiastes:

       4 He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap. 5 As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.

Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 (WEB)

       Many of us find security in having a paying job with a regular paycheck, but we also know that there are no guarantees. Just because you have a job today doesn’t mean you’ll have it tomorrow. This is not to say that we should live in fear, but we really do not know what the future holds. Solomon encourages us to continue working in the evening hours so we have something to fall back on if our primary work falls through. Start your own business part-time, and if you lose your regular job you’ll have something to fall back on. Or maybe they’ll both do well and you’ll prosper even more.

       I’m not saying we should all go out and become workaholics. The advice Solomon gives here is more along the lines of diversifying your sources of income. If you rely completely on your regular paycheck and you lose that, it’s going to hit you pretty hard. But if you have multiple sources of income, losing one of them won’t hurt you quite as badly.

       We see between these two verses that we are made to work and we need to work. Next, we’ll look at how our work glorifies God.

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