The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have a Bible Edge
Acts 7:16
And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
In the seventh chapter of Acts we find Stephen, one of the first seven deacons, preaching. It’s a great message that rehearses the history of Israel quite nicely. In this message Stephen mentions that Abraham bought a sepulcher for a burial place. That was all the way back in Genesis, the beginning of the Bible story. At least 2,050 years earlier. There is a lesson here concerning money.
Even from the beginnings of the Bible individuals have kept track, accounted, or recorded their financial transactions. Maybe the occupation usually mentioned as one being the oldest isn’t. Maybe it’s accounting! After all, in Genesis 2 gold is mentioned. Now where there is gold there will be someone counting it no doubt. Humor aside, records of money spent are as old as the human race is old. Today, though, it seems that many carelessly spend their money and have no idea where it all goes or how much they spend on things. It's like Haggai’s prophecy…Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. (Haggai 1:6)
Consider streaming services. That is a phrase that did not even exist ten years ago. But today everyone knows what a streaming service is. $5.99 per month doesn’t sound like much, but add them all up to get a real understanding of how much money is spent just to bring entertainment into our houses. Count it all, the cost of the internet service, the applications, etc. For some it will be quite a sum. (see what I did there?)
A weekly accounting of all money spent would probably be a wakeup call on how much money we spend. Someone challenged the congregation to do this; take a small note pad or an index card and record every penny you spend over the next month. The preacher said, you will be amazed. I did, and I was.
Without accounting for what is spent, we will spend too much. Every person should have a constant report on their own spending habits. This will keep one’s spending in check. After all, it’s easy to buy things on the credit card, but if someone else pays the credit card bill every month and the spender does not see it, that is very dangerous. There must be an accounting. To not do so is, well if it’s not a sin it ought to be. Many a good earner has found themselves in debt or even broke financially because they did not know how much they were spending.
Keeping financial records of all expenditures large and small is a part of properly managing the money that the Lord God entrusts to your management. That is an edge for life, a Bible Edge.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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