During my study time this morning, I started thinking about
where the fear and the love of money comes from. I believe that it starts in us when
we are very young. I remember growing up and we were not wealthy by any means,
but we had enough. My mom was raising us because my dad passed away when I was 4
years old and fortunately she did not have to work, but we had enough money to
live on. So basically, I was not one of those kids that got everything they
wanted. When kids are asking for things the line a lot of parents use, and I
used, is that we don’t have the money for that. I remember telling my kids that
and their answer for it was to just write a check. Think about it, a child
growing up hears that they can’t have what they want because of money and then
they see commercials on TV of all these great things that they could have if
they have enough money. This establishes money as the source for everything you
want at a young age.
I was reading Ezekiel 17:1-10 and it talks about a cedar
being planted in good soil and its roots growing down into the ground. That got
me thinking of how that seed of money being the center of everything is planted
into kids at a young age, then that seed is watered by the continual focus on
money in our society. The roots will grow deep and that way of thinking will
have a solid foundation when we grow up. I am not saying that we don’t need
money to live, but the unhealthy obsession with having enough money is what I
am talking about. I know that I had gotten to a point in my early adulthood (and
I don’t think I’m alone) that if I had money I was happy and if I didn’t I wasn’t.
I can sit here and point to all the things
that happened in my life that led me to that place, but will that help anything?
What can be done about it? Start planting some new seed. The
seeds that are planted inside you will determine what you believe and what you
believe will determine how you live.
Genesis 8:22 While
the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.
There are certain things that are not going to change while we
are on this earth and seedtime and harvest is the first thing on this list.
When we look at seedtime and harvest we naturally think of farming, but it is
so much more than that. We are planting seeds everyday with what we say and
what we allow into our lives. We plant
seeds into others with our words, but we also plant into ourselves because the
words go into our ears too. Whether good or bad, we will have a harvest from
the seeds planted so why not have a good one. God says in His word that He is
our source and to look to Him. The more of this I read, the more peace that I
have knowing that I am in good hands and I don’t have to look to money for everything.
This is not easy to do until you start planting the right seed and watering it.
It may take time, but you will have a harvest when you stand firm.
