Greg Poore

When the Space Shuttle Program ends in 2010 it is going to be a trying season in the lives of many people in our community. A lot of people are going to lose high paying jobs. Its probable many people will have to relocate to where the work is - so the trickle down is going to impact everything from housing to local restaurants and even the local church. Thinking about the impact of the change on our area got me thinking…

Proverbs 6:6-11
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Do this starting today: honor God with your money.
The Bible is filled with wisdom about how we use the resources God has entrusted to us, and yet I encounter one follower of Jesus after another whose financial behavior completely ignores the teaching of the Scripture. Many people who call CCCC home keep their money safely hidden away from God’s word about it – and it is killing them. We profess to follow Jesus but we insist on living above our means; we profess to be Bible believing but we reject its teaching about money in favor of the culture’s credit card and car payment addiction; we know we should live by faith but we pierce ourselves with anxieties, hardships, and turmoil because we live in a financial house of cards. It is time to stop it. Just stop it.
What would you do today if you knew for sure you would lose your job in 18 months? You would either prepare by reducing your spending and storing up for the “winter” like the ant or you would be a fool and keep on keeping on until the bottom falls out. So… which are you?
It is time for you to consider the ant and be wise. Pay off your debt and quit using credit. Know that you have no guarantee that tomorrow you will have the same resources available that you have today – regardless of where you work. Do without some things today so you can prepare and so endure a “winter” season or be prepared to be generous with someone else who is.
It is heart wrenching to me to encounter people in our church who find themselves in a financial “winter” and the People In Need process is impotent to help them because their debt obligations are overwhelming. These are people who should know better – people who sit in the seats at CCCC and in small group for years and somehow manage to never let God convict them about how ridiculously far above their incomes they live. It is tragic because everyone suffers, everyone: the marriage, the kids, the neighbor who needs help, the church, and the mission of the church – the consequences of this sin are pervasive.
Start today. Be and ant and not a sluggard. Be wise and not foolish. Listen to God’s word about your money matters. You’ll be better off and so will your family – and so will your ability to glorify God when winter comes.