This week I’m getting a MacBook Pro and a Nintendo Wii. I’m not paying for them, and I did nothing to earn them. Neither are mine to keep, but they both fulfill a want I have.
In my youth, if I wanted one of those things, I would have gone out and bought them. I would have spent a pay cheque, and dealt with the consequences later. Or worse, I would have swiped a credit card and accumulated the consequences at 18% interest. And I’ve had a decent job most of my adult life, so I wouldn’t worry about the cost.
Over the last couple years though, God’s taught me (mostly through my wife) some difficult lessons about obedience. About tithing, about being responsible with my money, and even about the value of work.
I still wouldn’t say that I’m the most frugal of people, or the most fiscally brilliant. I know I’m still growing in this area, but I have gotten a lot better. I’m learning to live within a modest but honest budget. I’ve learned to resist the urge to buy the things I want. And I’ve learned that working for a reward in heaven is at least as satisfying as working for a pay cheque on earth.
So I write this post, not to brag, but to record for myself the fact that God honors obedience. That it might take some humility to congratulate a friend on his new 42″ plasma TV when we’ve barely had a working CRT all year. But that it’s worth it, cause God takes care of his children.
Any time I think that working 75 hours a week, 35 of them unpaid, is unfair, this post is to remind me that I have never wanted for anything — not even a MacBook Pro.
And that God is good.
