Me:  Nice boat Prodigal!

Prodigal:  It is my friend’s boat and I am going for a ride.

Me:  What a blessing to have a nice boat, but it is also a blessing to not have a boat.  It really depends on our hearts.

Prodigal:  I am confused….what do you mean?  God wants us poor?

Me:  No it is not about having money or being poor, it is about our hearts.  Here let me share with you what Luci Swindoll shared in the book Extravagant Grace Devotions That Celebrate God’s Gift of Grace.

 

Sometimes we have the mistaken idea that God loves and blesses us more if we look, live, or behave a certain way.  If our lives are tidier, he’s happier.  If we are “successful” in the world’s eyes, he’s relieved.  If we become cultured or erudite, he feels better about us.  We  assume God prefers designer clothes and custom homes.  We presume he’s pleased with fancy careers and technological advances.  But in God’s economy, grace doesn’t work like that.  God places no emphasis on externals.  He looks at our hearts, and he blesses us from the inside out.  His goodness is available to all.

 

God doesn’t care if we are rich or poor.  What he does care about if it becomes a distraction.  See being rich and poor can both become a distraction.  If you have money or don’t have money you can make it an idol to where you always need more.  God is looking at the heart.  So why not starting looking at your heart right now when it comes to the money in your life?  He may be trying to show you something about your heart connected to money and God may want to change that.

 

Philippians 2:7

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org