Better at Setting Something Aside

“And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food.”
Genesis 41:33-35 (NIV)

Can you accept that you possess the discipline to save some of your money? God has given us this discipline as a way of living obediently to Him, of honoring His omniscience, and of showing gratitude that in many instances He will not let us be caught off guard. He will provide both revelation and vision: revelation to tell you what’s coming and vision to tell you how to respond to it.

God gives Pharaoh a dream that when Joseph interprets it, it reveals that God blesses the saving and the storing just as much as His blessings are revealed in surviving the famine.

We become better at saving money first when we develop the conviction that saving and storing is just as much a spiritual offering to God as it is scattering, planting, harvesting, and storing. Saving money is as much a blessing as being able to spend it. Worship can be attached to the saving of money just as intimately as the worship we offer over what our money brings to our lives.

If you can thank God when God lets it flow in the years of plenty, you can thank God when you have to live in the years of scarcity off of what you have stored.

Look at your paycheck and assess: if you have to put $10 to the side, do you see the opportunity to celebrate? Money saved equal to the clothes and jewelry and cars and possessions that money purchases turns into opportunities to be grateful for God’s provision.

For far too many people, saving is a burden. That’s why most people avoid it or do it reluctantly. Whatever one’s attitude toward a thing often determines their commitment toward that thing, which means we could all do better at saving money if we first changed our perception of the discipline of saving and storing. Saving money is an act of spiritual offering to God. You honor God not just by how you spend your money; you honor God by how you save your money. 

Say to yourself: “If I learn how to save money, I can thank God in the years of plenty for how good God has been, and thank God in the years of scarcity for how He keeps me from falling and presents me faultless.” Become better at saving your money because it builds and strengthens other disciplines. Start wherever you are, with whatever you have, whenever you can, as much as you can.