Matthew 6:16-24
“Notice what you notice.” Fasting. Wealth. Our eyes. Three topics, a few sentences for each. Only a few words, but a lifetime of lessons! Again, who can disagree with Jesus’ direct words? But as I said yesterday on the topic of “giving”, our Men’s Group has spent hours looking at our responsibilities as providers for our families and at the same time saving for our own retirement. And with all that, the other half of giving and saving is “wealth hoarding”.
How much do we need to put away for retirement? We can budget for our normal expenses, add in some reasonable amounts for relaxation and enjoyment, then factor in some expected growth of our wealth over time and come up with a target figure for our retirement savings. But, (1) how long will we and our spouse live and (2) how do we plan around natural catastrophes or huge unexpected medical expenses and (3) what is our responsibility to leave something for our children after we are gone? Somehow we have to tie all this back into our giving. Do we follow John Wesley, who said, “Earn as much as you can, save as much as you can, and give away as much as you can?” Or do we put our church or our giving to needy causes in our wills? What to do?
Bottom line: …lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven (v. 20) and You cannot serve God and money (v. 24). It’s a good day to be doing Avanza!
Slava Bohu!