A passage this morning [at Community](http://communityfellowship.org/) was from the [letter of James](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%204:13-17;&version=31;), about looking to our futures:

> Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

I always feel kind of conflicted about these kind of messages. Waterloo charges me a ridiculously high tuition, but I also make a lot of money working on co-op. Even though I’m basically a pretty typical broke 21-year-old student, I have a larger cash flow and less debt than many my age.

But in saving during work terms and spending during school, where’s the line between attentiveness and worry? What constitutes reasonable planning for the future, and what is man’s folly in making his own plans? King David, in [Psalm 33](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2033:10-11;&version=47;) says:

> The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

And his son Solomon is even more despairing, in [Ecclesiastes](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%201:1-3;&version=51;):

> “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
>
> What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?

But can all plans be bad? Of course not! Think about what Joseph [told Pharaoh](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2041:29-36;&version=31;), regarding the dreams:

> Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
>
> 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. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”

Like many religious lessons, it seems to be an exercise in moderation, motives, and attitudes. Planning fourteen years ahead and storing seven years worth of grain wasn’t sinful, it was both a necessity and an opportunity for future generosity. The warning isn’t against saving, it’s against *hoarding*—a point corroborated by the [Parable of the Talents](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Talents) (in [Matthew](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2025:14-30;&version=31;)):

> “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
>
> “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Despite the fact that the Parable of the Talents is generally used to speak about gifts and abilities (to whom much is given, much is expected), it’s interesting and significant that it was money used as the metaphor, and there’s no criticism made of the master for desiring to accumulate resources using his employees.

The issue is not so much what we have, but whether we allow it [to control us](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206:24-34;&version=31;):

>”No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
>
>”Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
>
>”And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

A similar thought appears [in Luke](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012:6-7;&version=31;), although with less admonishment and more comfort:

>Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

I think the *real* lesson in all of this is that generosity is king. There’s a lot of joy to be had in giving—in sharing what you’ve got with others—and it really sucks to hamstring that by fretting about how it’s going to impact the bottom line down the road.

Mike

← Earlier Later → Posted at 4:08 pm to Christianity, Reflection.