The Fifth Decision
Ron Blue speaks about five decisions we must make as Christians if we truly want to make an impact with our lives and experience financial joy.
The first two decisions are about salvation and lordship. In those decisions, we come face to face with the radical grace of Jesus and His authority in our lives. Have we made the decision to accept the redemptive sacrifice poured out for us? Have we truly and wholly accepted Christ as Lord of our lives?
The third and fourth decisions focus on our calling and stewardship. Do we believe we are God’s workmanship designed and commissioned for good works? Do we believe that God owns everything and we are merely stewards of His resources? These two decisions orient our thinking so that we see our vocation and our resources as gifts from God.
The fifth is the “clincher”. Will we be a pipeline or a bucket when it comes to our earthly wealth? We are like a pipeline when we believe that God leads us to pour into ministries and works focused on the eternal. We are a bucket when we gather and hold our resources for our temporal earthly desires. Jesus in Matthew 6: 19-21 calls us to decide.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Believing that the eternal is more real than the temporal is very difficult to do in a tangible world that screams for our attention and care. How do we lay up treasures in heaven? I remind you today that the only way to live with an eternal perspective is to prioritize eternal things. Prioritize your relationship with God. Ask Him to show you where you can invest in the things of eternity. You may have children, relationships with missionaries, relationships with widows and orphans, or other “investments” that God is calling you to pour into. Ask Him to show you where eternity intersects with time in your own life and then move to put your time, talent, and treasure into those places. Be amazed at the abundance of the grace that God will pour through you!
Let’s be a people of generosity. Let’s depend on grace. Let’s prioritize eternity.