Month: May 2021

It is No Sin to Seek a Better Way

Posted on by richabbaholyabba

If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.

Ecclesiastes 10:10

The main themes in Ecclesiastes chapter ten are the commendation of wisdom and censure of folly — and verse ten continues in that vein.

In this verse, the writer illustrates how a little wisdom can save a lot of effort. If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed. The message is this; just as wisdom can inform our decisions in small matters such as cutting wood, so it should inform our decisions in life’s weightier matters.

For instance, if the ax is dull, there is no sin in sharpening it before going out to chop wood. In much the same way, there is no sin in seeking faster and easier ways to achieve more important goals, like earning a living and providing for one’s family. To my mind, working forty to sixty hours a week for fifty weeks a year, just to earn a living wage amounts to chopping wood with a blunt ax.

There are better ways for me to spend my time, like seeking God’s will and purposes for my life, spreading the gospel, equipping fellow-believers for ministry or being available and present for the people I love. These pursuits have eternal value and how I choose to earn my living will either help or hinder those aims.

It saddens me when I see God-fearing believers shackle themselves by conforming to a cultural — not Biblical — norm that says they should devote the most productive years of their life to a job that they hate. And, worse, one that prevents them from fulfilling God’s will for their lives, ultimately rendering them unfruitful. Any deviation from that norm is met with fear as their built-in cultural Christian-Love-of-Money alarms start to sound.

Don’t try anything different. Pursuit of riches is the love of money. You don’t need to earn any more than you have right now! Don’t risk losing what you already have. These thoughts echo through their minds, ever preventing them from seeking ways to sharpen their ax.

If the ax is Dull…

if the ax is dull more strength is required

For the sake of argument, let’s agree that said God-fearing believers don’t need to earn any more than their current annual salaries. Why can they not earn that money in January? Or why can’t they earn it from investment income, like dividends, that they receive at regular intervals instead of devoting all their time and energy to building a faceless corporate empire?

What might such people do with their remaining free time? Imagine what these believers could achieve in God’s kingdom from such a position of freedom. It is no sin to seek a better way; in fact, God’s word exhorts us to seek wisdom and sharpen the ax. This same verse promises that skill will bring success.

With Ecclesiastes 10:10 in mind, what does success look like to you? And are you living out that success right now, or do you believe something needs to change? If, like me, you believe a change is required, I urge you to seek the wisdom you need and begin to sharpen the ax.

Acquire the knowledge you need. Seek out a like-minded, and Godly, accountability group and make the shift from where you are to where God has called you to be.

Why not start by visiting me on Facebook or message me directly? I look forward to hearing from you.

How to Realize God’s Will in the Christian Life

Posted on by richabbaholyabba

Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Ephesians 5:15-17

‘Every day is an opportunity,’ so the saying goes. With that in mind…

The Bible calls us to make the best use of our time by making the most of every opportunity. It is in this context that God’s word exhorts us to understand what the Lord’s will is.

The alternative is foolishness. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Understand What the Lord’s Will is

understand what the lord's will is

I simply cannot accept that the best use of my time is a daily commute to and from the office, working ten hours a day, five or six days a week, over and over for the forty to fifty most productive years of my life — quietly treading water as the current carries me toward retirement.

Honestly, that feels more like foolishness than understanding what the Lord’s will is. I acknowledge not every Christian will feel that way. No judgment. That is between you and God.

However, I would challenge every believer to consider the passage in this context.

Ephesians 5:15 exhorts me to be very careful, then, how [I] live. This is something I should take very seriously.

Be very careful, then how you live…

Ephesians 5:15
be careful how you live - understand what the Lord's will is

As a believer, it is my duty to first understand what the Lord’s will is for my life. And, once I understand that, to spend all my energy and — time — striving to live out that purpose.

To that end, my goal is to stop spending all of my time trying to earn money and, instead, spend my money to reclaim my time. That will enable me to fulfill God’s will and purposes in my life.

How does this passage challenge you? Have you been careful about how you live? In other words, have you been deliberate in considering how you spend your time?

And do you believe that you are living not as unwise, but as wise? Do you understand what the Lord’s will is?

Are you making the most of every opportunity? Or have you spent your time foolishly?

I pray that you understand what God’s will is and that, by His grace, you have the wisdom and courage to live out that purpose in your life.

How to Discover True Courage in the Christian Walk

Posted on by richabbaholyabba

I have heard many sermons preached against the love of money and pursuit of riches in the Christian walk. Any pastor teaching this will get no argument from me. The message is valid and should be taught from the pulpit.

However, these sermons often fall short because the shy away from the whole truth. Challenging the pursuit of riches is easy. Challenging pursuit of the mundane and ordinary requires true courage when it comes to living out God’s purpose for our lives.

Challenging the pursuit of riches is easy. Challenging pursuit of the mundane and ordinary requires true courage.

Rich Abba, Holy Abba

What do I mean by that? I’ll try to clarify.

It’s easy to spot the love of money in a person who is obsessed with acquiring riches; one who loves the idea of a lavish lifestyle, indulging in fast cars, luxury yachts and private jets. It is equally easy to call that out and show, from scripture, that this is not God’s will for our lives as believers. There is more to life than making lots of money!

When preaching such sermons, our pastors are generally speaking to those hidden lusts of the flesh; those things we secretly wish for but which we would never actually try to reach for in reality, or talk about with our fellow-believers — partly because we know this is not God’s will and partly because they are so unattainable.

It is less easy to challenge those mundane — dare I say, ordinary — pursuits like facing the daily commute to and from the office. Or putting in eight to ten hours a day in a cubicle, and then bringing the laptop home so we can spend our evenings and weekends catching up on the work we didn’t quite get to between 8AM and 6PM… and doing this for forty-five years or more. Quietly treading water to retirement.

Of course, we have to do these things in order to pay our mortgage, or make rent. Or how about making monthly payments on our vehicle finance and paying down the credit-card debt we incurred on our latest tech purchases, like games consoles and big-screen TV’s.

Nobody could accuse a person in this position of pursuing riches. That is simply not the goal. Rather, it is a fight to survive, living pay-check to pay-check.

And yet…

pain of not living out God's purpose

Still others, like seed thrown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Mark 4:18-19

This is the result of a life spent pursuing the ordinary. The worries of this life (mortgages and bill payments) and desires for other things grow up like thorns, choking the word of God in our hearts and in our lives. Those ‘thorns’ render us forever unfruitful as we become consumed by a career and neglect God’s call on our lives.

How is this living out God’s purpose?

You may have noticed I skipped over the deceitfulness of riches in the above paragraph. Let’s address that now. What is the deceitfulness of riches in this context, if not the lie that we are doing okay, living out God’s plan, simply because we have not spent all our energy in the pursuit of riches?

Living Out God’s Purpose

Here is the hard truth. If life isn’t all about making lots of money, it most certainly isn’t all about making ends meet. Where is God in either of those pursuits?

If life isn’t all about making lots of money, it most certainly isn’t all about making ends meet. Where is God in either of those pursuits?

Rich Abba, Holy Abba

So, here is my call for each of us; to challenge the mundane and ordinary in our own lives. Yes, I led with the sermons preached by our pastors — but it is not our pastor’s job to give us the courage we need to live out God’s will and purpose for our lives. That responsibility falls to each of us.

Are you prepared to look deep inside your own heart and challenge those areas where you have become unfruitful? Possibly areas where you have allowed the comfort of the ordinary and mundane to choke the word of God in your heart?

Don’t be afraid or let the past hold you back. Take courage. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Can you commit to living out God’s purpose for your life? Imagine where will God take you — if only you let Him!

The Secret to Overcoming the Love of Money

Posted on by richabbaholyabba

Despite the widespread freedom and wealth that much of the first world enjoys and even takes for granted, millions of hard-working people still feel trapped and impoverished by crippling debt and mounting bills.

Christians are not immune to this pain. In fact, many hard-working first world believers feel this way. Trapped in never-ending servitude or chained by financial bondage from which there seems to be no escape.

Why would Christians, who are rich in Christ, still feel poor?

The answer is simple. In order to maintain their current lifestyle and pay their bills each month, a sacrifice is required — and that sacrifice is time. Everybody knows and accepts this. However, when a person spends all their time trying to earn money, the result is time-poverty. When this happens, regardless of how much money they earn, that person will always feel poor.

Overcoming the love of money is the only way out of this financial prison.

time is money

When a person spends all their time trying to earn money, the result is time-poverty

Rich Abba, Holy Abba

Some have chased after riches to overcome this but that is not God’s way. As Christians, we know that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and the Bible is very clear on this.

The truth is that most Christians don’t want to be rich. What they really long for is freedom. Freedom from the fear that drives them to the office each day. Freedom from the obligations that keep them chained to a desk forty to sixty hours each week. Freedom to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness without the constant worry of how to make rent or put food on the table.

In short, most Christians who feel stuck in a constant state of financial struggle don’t want more money. What they long for is more time!

I define true wealth as the freedom to:

  • Pursue God’s will and purposes
  • Spend time with those we love
  • Give generously

The good news for all believers is this. We can!

Overcoming the Love of Money

overcoming the love of money

By understanding what the Bible really teaches about managing money, every believer can find that freedom. And they can do it with little or no more money than they have right now.

The truth is that many Christians could achieve true wealth with little or no more money than they have now.

Rich Abba, Holy Abba

The only requirement is a commitment to Stewardship. That means studying God’s word on the subject of money and learning to properly manage the resources with which He has already blessed us.

The secret is really quite simple. Instead of spending all of our time trying to earn money, we need learn how to spend our money in such a way that we get back our time!

This means we need to become more deliberate about how we spend our money. It means changing our spending patterns so that we are planting seed for next year’s harvest (i.e. investing) rather than consuming all we earn on fleeting pleasures that have no long-term or eternal value.

We can only achieve this by first recognizing, and then overcoming the love of money that drives those poor spending patterns that keep us in a constant state of financial struggle.