Path to Prosperity (Part Three)

Read Matthew 25:14-30
Path to Prosperity (Part Three)
Priorities and Patience With the Piggy Bank

You  can tell a lot about a person, by how they prioritize things in their life. Do they put effort into spending time with family or do they  see them when it’s convenient? Do they make other people’s feelings and emotions a priority or is it mainly about their own wants, desires, needs and concerns? Do they spend their money on materialistic things that aren’t necessities or do they put it away and invest? There are few things that will trip us up more than having our priorities wrong. Of course, our first priority should be to put God first, but what’s next? Since we are talking about prospering monetarily, we will focus on how we should prioritize our money. Hopefully we can tackle “life” priorities soon.

^{Proverbs 24:27 Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.}

^{This verse is short but it speaks volumes. Solomon was talking about a huge component to survival in his day. If you did not have a good crop, then you did not eat, if you did not eat then you did not survive. He was encouraging all that listened to focus on preparing their fields, making sure it was ready to plant and then be harvested. Do the ground work first! Only after the preparation and the hard labor of sowing, maintaining and harvesting, should you build a fancy dwelling.}

^{We live in such an instant gratification society, that everyone forgets about ground work!}

^{Growing up I trained horses and rodeoed. Any good horse trainer knows that someone can’t spend a only a couple months training and then load up and head to compete. They may win a few of their first rodeos and take the world by storm, but that young horse is on the verge of “blowing up”. Because the trainer didn’t spend the proper time molding and teaching that horse, it now doesn’t want to run, gets super anxious and is a hazard to everyone around it. The horses mind is basically blown, and it’s such a sad thing to see. Simply, because someone didn’t have the patience to make the “ground work” a priority, a horse that was destined to be great is now just another body in the pasture. My pride and joy, the best horse I ever owned took me 2 and a half years to train. THAT’S A LONG TIME IN RODEO YEARS.  He was stubborn, hard headed and a pain in my side! (literally because I hit the ground several times in the process of our training) But let me tell you, the wait was so worth it, my little Cody out ran nearly everyone I put him against from the south to the west. If we didn’t out run our competition, he still gave his whole heart every single time and that’s all I could ask for. Because I laid the ground work, was patient and waited on my time, we were a pair everyone dreaded to see walk into the arena. The ground work paid off.}

^{WE HAVE GOT TO SET THE GROUND WORK IN OUR FINANCES, BE PATIENT AND QUIT TRYING TO BE “ALL THAT” BEFORE WE ARE READY!}

^{We need to work, save money and live in a small but comfortable house before we jump into a large fancy one. We need to drive a  reliable and modest car before we buy a fancy new Porsche. We need to make sure food is on the table and bills are paid before we get our hair and nails done or buy expensive clothes, makeup, golf clubs, (insert your favorite thing here). I love to eat out for lunch, but I started taking my lunch to work in order to save money and be more fiscally responsible. My office has a full kitchen, stove and all, so it is dumb to not take my lunch! It's sacrifice that I make daily to ensure I am spending my family's money wisely. Spending responsibly should be a priority for all of us. I see so many people trying to live outside their means, but for what? To impress someone who they don’t even like to begin with! Live inside your means now, and your means will rise. If you show God that you can be trusted to spend a small amount of money wisely, he will bless you with more and more.}

^{Luke 16:10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.}