Priorities
When something like a diagnosis of cancer hits and all of a sudden you find everything you’ve ever had—all your resources—being pushed to the limit, what do you do?
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“And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it. But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house.” (1 Kings 6:38–7:1, NKJV)
Our priorities say a lot about who we are and what we value as important. Jesus told a story about a certain farmer whose crops were much greater than any other year. When he thought about what to do with the profits, he decided he would tear down the small barn that he had and build a much larger one. After he had saved all his wealth, he decided to take it easy, retire and live “the good life.” The only problem was that soon after he had built the larger barns, he died and didn’t get to enjoy any of it.
Jesus said that the Father called this man a fool because he had a large barn full of riches, but he neglected his relationship with God. The man's relationship with God was not a priority and he suffered because of it. Think about all the good he could have done. Imagine the blessing he could have been to others. Jesus also said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. This is another priority that doesn’t make sense to us. There is nothing wrong with saving. The Bible tells us that we should save our money and be wise with it.
Saving
“The wise have wealth and luxury,
But fools spend whatever they get.”
(Proverbs 21:20, NLT)
Investments and diversification
“Send your grain across the seas,
and in time, profits will flow back to you.
But divide your investments among many places,
for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.”
(Ecclesiastes 11:1–2, NLT)
Reason for investing
“A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.”
(Proverbs 22:3, NKJV)
In all this, we need to be prudent with our investments. Why are we saving? To live a life of luxury when we are old? We have no idea on what day we will die. So why are we saving? Priorities are very important in life. We need to make choices that will be both wise and prudent.
The definition of the word “prudent” is acting with or showing care and thought for the future. In essence, it is making good choices in life. What is the priority? What is the right choice? When something like a diagnosis of cancer hits and all of a sudden you find everything you’ve ever had—all your resources—being pushed to the limit, what do you do? What Jesus said comes in like a flood. You may have invested and done things right, but your soul may be required to stand before God. What will happen to everything you’ve saved?
That is why the principle of others is so important when it comes to money, investments, finance, and saving. Why do you save? Because you are using wisdom and saving for a rainy day. If you save now, you may be a blessing to others later. I am grateful to those who have helped us through my battle with cancer. They had the resources because God had blessed them with the wisdom to look to the future and be ready to serve in love and compassion. Others gave when they had little to none themselves, believing that God would provide for their needs, and of course, he always does (Philippians 4:19). When it comes to saving and having resources, it should always be about legacy; it should always be about others.
You invest because you want a return on that investment so that you can take care of your immediate family. Later in life, there may come a time when you will need those resources to take care of a sick spouse or leave a healthy amount for your widow should you go to heaven before she does. But the joy in giving comes from being alive to share it. If you have ever taken your hard-earned resources and given them away to a good cause, you know what I mean: The look on their faces when you provide much-needed funds for them to purchase a backpack and school supplies to go back to school, the joy that comes from spending your time at a homeless shelter feeding the poor, or taking vacation time and spending your own money to provide disaster relief because of that earthquake in a third-world country. There has never been a drug created that is more addictive than truly giving your time and resources with a true heart. It gets so addicting that you have to ensure you use prudence and make good choices so that you are applying the right resource to the right situation, but giving is so much better than receiving.
So, why did I start with Solomon spending 7 years building the temple and 13 years building his own home? Because of priorities. Conventional wisdom says that Solomon’s priority was his own home, not the Temple, because he spent so long building his home. In fact, he spent almost twice as much time building his own home as building God’s home. It makes sense to think this way. Perhaps he was more particular with his own home, spending years and years getting each detail right for his own pleasure.
However, when I looked at this from another perspective, I thought about priorities again. What was Solomon’s priority? His priority was the Temple. I can prove this in the same way some would say that Solomon was focused too much on his own home, by the amount of time he spent building both of them.
Have you ever been so engrossed in a project that you overlooked another? Perhaps I am strange, but I have been so focused on getting something done that I have forgotten to eat or drink. I have gone eight, nine, and ten hours a day without eating or drinking, being hyper-focused. This can be dangerous for me, so I don’t do it often. But it can happen. I guess that is called obsession. I think Solomon was obsessed with the house of God. He wanted it perfect and never stopped working on a home for the King of kings and Lord of lords. I am sure he fiddled with his house now and again during the construction of the Temple, but not much. It wasn’t a priority for him. The glory of God and the place of his presence on earth was. He was investing in the Kingdom of God, which was much more important than his own dwelling. Then, after seven years and the dedication of the Temple, he could now focus on his own home. But it took him another six years to do so. This makes sense to me.
But either way, the principle is true. We should invest in things that will last forever. People will last forever. They have the opportunity to spend eternity in one of two places. God desires that they spend their eternity with him. Therefore, we should invest in things that would promote people and eternity. How can we provide for the Gospel to be spread like seeds in a field so that many will hear, and a crop of hundreds, thousands, millions can come to Christ? Have you thought about investing in the Kingdom of God?
Use wisdom. Make wise choices, as Solomon did. One thing you do not want to do is spend your money on a whim. God has provided for you and your family and has given you wisdom. You have done what is right. It is yours and it is sitting in your modern “barn,” a bank. It is growing. Always make sure that you can pay the bills and have some sort of savings. But what about the rest? Think about giving. Consider being a hand of mercy to someone else.
A couple more stories and then we are done. Thank you for reading thus far.
In Luke 18:18-23, Jesus encountered a young man who was rich and was in a leadership position. They spoke about priorities. He asked Jesus how he could obtain eternal life. Jesus gave the “pat answer,” waiting for the man’s response. He said, “You know the commandments… ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” At this, the young man said that he had lived by these all his life! That was what Jesus was waiting for. He wanted to zero in on the man’s needs. Was this man proud of the fact that he had kept the commandments since he was a young man? Or did he feel a profound sense that something was lacking in his life? Remember, he asked what he needed to do to receive eternal life, even though he had kept these commandments. But Jesus looked at him and loved him. Think about that. Jesus knew this man. As God, Jesus created him. He knew all about him. He was truly a good man. But something was lacking. The world had a hold on him. He wasn’t free to follow Christ. He was being held hostage by his riches. Jesus saw this and said that the thing he was lacking was that his possessions possessed him and he needed to be set free from them. He needed to give them away to those who needed them most and then follow Christ in freedom and find the greatest treasure of all, a relationship with Jesus Christ, the treasure of heaven!
You would think this story has a happy ending. It would be fantastic if the story ended with, “And he gave away all his possessions and followed Christ.” But he did not. Instead, he went away sorrowfully, realizing that Jesus was right, but he could not let go. He had too much to lose in this world, and therefore, he lost the one thing that would have been greater than all his riches. I believe that Jesus was just as sorrowful as the young man.
The other story is about one of my favorite topics, the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Knights Templar. They were monks in service to God, and they fought in war. They were police officers, national guardsmen, and the military. But what stood out most was their commitment to God and others. Some people would think that they were power-hungry men who always looked for a fight. Others think that it is impossible to be a Christian and fight for God. But they wanted to protect people and serve God.
When they first began, they were nine humble knights whose only desire was to protect people who were being robbed on their pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They were knights who had the skills but wanted to use them to protect Christians. To become a Knight Templar, a man had to make three vows: Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. They had to be obedient to their superiors, just like being in the military. They received orders, they obeyed orders. They had to keep themselves from women because they were not supposed to be distracted by the things of the world. And they had to give their wealth away. They didn’t own anything, even the sword in their hand or the steed beneath them -- everything belonged to the order and was provided for their service. Their meals, their place to live, and everything about their daily lives were provided for by The Order.
Why would somebody do this? Priorities. Knight Templars were not average everyday people. They were from wealthy families, they were lords, they were rich, and they gave it all up because they counted the cost. The work they did for Christ and others was way more important than their needs and comfort. Listen to the words of one recruit:
“I, renouncing secular life and its pomp, relinquishing everything, give myself to the Lord God and to the knighthood of the Temple of Solomon of Jerusalem, that, as long as I shall live, in accordance with my strength, I shall serve there a complete pauper for God.”
They were completely devoted to God and others. That was their priority.
Solomon had the same priority. He focused on the Temple and waited until it was done to put all his attention to his own home. May we think of the Kingdom of God, then others, then ourselves.
By the grace of God.
NON NOBIS DOMINE, NON NOBIS, SED NOMINI TUO DA GLORIAM
“Not to us, Lord, not to us, but give the glory to Your name…”
Psalm 115:1
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