I have seen many times a bumper sticker on the back of a large motor home that says, “We are spending our children’s inheritance.”

I suspect that is supposed to be a little humorous.

When it comes to spending all the money we have worked so hard for, it might be interesting to take some Bible verses into account.

In 1 Chronicles there is a great record of David praying while dedicating the stuff for the temple his son Solomon was to build

1Chronicles 29:10-14 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

This is a great truth to remember when it comes to handling money.  All that we have comes from God, and it all belongs to Him.  We are stewards (or the more modern term would be managers) of His blessing.  We are to do with the finances God gives us as He directs us.  A manager or steward manages his bosses’ stuff.  The stuff does not belong to the manager; he just manages it for his boss’s profit.  In this case, God is our boss, and we manage for Him.

God asks us to give away part of what He blesses us with.  In the Old Testament, they started with the tithe or 10%, and then they were to give to others that were in need also, just as He asks us to do.

Then, God expected them to save part of what He blessed them with.  This is implied in the verse that says there is oil and wine in the house of the wise, but the fools spend it up. They were to save part of the surplus in their barns or storehouses just like we are to save part of our surplus in the bank or “under our mattress.” LOL

It is interesting to come to the realization that all our material goods, our property and all our finances really belong to Him.  We are managers, and we handle our money as He instructs. So, He has instructed us to tithe some, give some and save some. By instructing us about our finances, God is teaching us how money can be a blessing to our lives.

The attitude of the bumper sticker is:  It is my money, I earned it and I will spend it on myself if I want. God warned Israel not to have that type of attitude in Deuteronomy just before they entered the promised land:

Deuteronomy 8:9-18 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.  When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

The life of a believer works better when we keep things in their proper perspective. We are just managers of what God has given us.  It all belongs to Him.  If God has said that a good man gives an inheritance to his children’s children, then part of keeping God and His Word first in our lives would be to so manage our money so that we can carry out His Will and leave an inheritance for our children’s children.

If you wish to see more prosperity in your life, remember Jesus said, “Faithful in little, faithful in much.”

The more we can straighten out our thinking to be in alignment and harmony with what God has said, the more we will see the blessings of God abound in our lives. The more we learn, the more faithful we can become to those Words of God.

The Prosperous Life Staff!!