Can I Afford It?

We’ve all done it. We’ve all seen that cute dress, pair of shoes or designer cell phone case that calls out to us, saying “I will make your life better.” Ok so maybe not in those exact words but ultimately that’s what goes through our minds. “It will definitely go well with that scarf I bought last week, oh and those earrings I saw in the last store would just be darling… and of course I’ll need to invest into some matching eye shadow! Hmmm… if I save X amount of dollars out of my paychecks, I’ll be able to purchase it within the month!”Sometimes we may even think things such as “Well I’ve had a couple of rough days I think God wants me to be happy so not tithing for a few weeks to speed up being able to afford it will be ok with Him. Oh and my friend going on that trip to Uganda, I’ll just give her the remainder of my paycheck after I make all these purchases” Sounds pretty extreme, doesn’t it? Here’s the shocker, we all do it and unfortunately this scenario is minuscule compared to some real life instances. And it’s not limited to just our money, our time is a valuable thing as well.

Point being, although there are many different lessons to be learned from this one example, we tend to let our materialistic desires become our first priority. They climb above giving to God, above helping to support ministries and end up taking away time to reach out to others. Is it awful to want nice things? Not at all, but eventually spending becomes our sun and before we know it everything revolves around our paycheck and it’s so easy for our priorities to switch places. You can’t afford to replace Christ with possessions.

What the Bible says:

“A person is fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” (Luke 12:21, NLT)

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasure in Heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (Matt. 6:19-21, NLT)

“You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and money both” (Matt. 6:24 THE MESSAGE)

“Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (Like 12:15 THE MESSAGE)

How? What? When? Where? Why?
1) How can you yield your possessions to God’s control?
2) What will you do to demonstrate that Jesus is your top priority?
3) When can you give?
4) Where are you storing your treasures?
5) Why will money and earthly materials never completely satisfy?