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Musings on Faith #30 An Ancient Boundary Stone | |
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The Book of Proverbs is filled with practical wisdom for everyday living, and much of this wisdom is directed at how we manage our finances and material possessions. Proverbs 21: 5 says "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty" and Proverbs 22: 28 says "Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers (NIV)." Although apparently not related, the Lord has revealed to me a very direct link between these two verses which supply a herald and a warning to this Nation and her people. The United States of America, once a great creditor nation, is now the largest debtor nation on earth. The government, over the past eight years, has gone from a budget surplus to the greatest debt in our history. The people, individually and as families, have gone down the same path. In the 1980's, Americans saved at an average rate of eleven percent. That figure is now down to a minus one percent. In other words, we are spending more than we are making. This is not only contrary to sound economic sense, it is also contrary to the word of God. We hasten to have all that we want, telling ourselves that we deserve it and we're going to have it, come what may. The government spends money, borrowed from nations that would destroy us, like Communist China, like there was no tomorrow, and so do we. We have moved the "ancient boundary stone" of |
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frugality and responsibility established by our forefathers; the stone of saving and living within our means. We have pushed it aside and set up a new stone of "I want" and "I deserve" and "I want it now." And I will admit, right now, that I am among those who have followed this ill-advised path in the past. However, I am resolved to do so no more. If we are to cease to be a debtor nation, and a people in debt up to our eyeballs, we must start saving and we must stop spending money we do not have. On a national level, the government cannot cut taxes and then spend at record high levels, as the Bush Administration has done, and on a personal and family level we cannot spend our entire net income and then run up extra debt on credit cards and mortgages which we cannot afford to pay back. At both levels interest will eat us up and we will become insolvent (bankrupt). Our government is at the threshold of financial collapse even now, and so are far too many families in America. We need the best financial advice available to us to get out of this disastrous situation, and that financial expertise is at our fingertips in most American homes: it is the Holy Bible! We can return to God's ways in our finances and we will begin to get out of debt, and even see our blessings grow and multiply. Let's start now. God will be pleased. Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard |
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