Daily Devotions

Throughout the Easter Season the daily devotions have been written by members of Faith Lutheran Church. Today’s devotion is from Pastor Junfeng Tan.

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” Proverbs 22:7

This Bible verse did not attract much of my attention until five years ago when I attended a class of Dave Ramsey’s “Financial Peace University.” In a Sunday School classroom at a small country church in South Dakota, my wife, I, and ten other people watched and listened with great interest to Dave Ramsey’s lecture on the harms that debts have inflicted on struggling families. “When it comes to personal finance, getting into debt is a dumb and dangerous idea. When we borrow money to buy the stuff we cannot afford, we dig a deep hole for ourselves and it is awfully hard to get out it.” That is the impression I got after listening to Dave Ramsey and I think he is right.

We are to take our own financial responsibility seriously and be wise and diligent in managing money. We are to learn to live within our means. We are to believe that hard and honest work and frugality will eventually lead us to financial peace.

We are to resist the temptation of our materialistic, consumerist culture. We are not to “buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like” (Dave Ramsey). It is important to remind ourselves constantly that, “Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil. A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.” (Proverbs 15:16-17, New Living Translation)

We Christians believe that money and material possessions are gifts from God. The skills that we have to make money and to earn a decent living are also God’s blessings. Everything we have is placed into our hands by God. As stewards of God’s gifts, we are called to share, to give, and to serve. Our Lord Jesus says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

Let us pray: Lord, there are many financial potholes in our lives. Teach us to be wise and faithful stewards of your gifts and talents. Help us to live with open hearts and open hands so that we may experience the joy of your blessing flowing through us. Amen.

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