Proverbs Thought of the Day

"Better a little with the fear of the LORD

than great wealth with turmoil."

- Proverbs 15:16

Recently a cousin of ours who has 2 children under the age of 3, is working and also goes to school, made the comment, "If only I had a million dollars, I could be a stay at home mom." That got me to thinking this morning of what can be done with $1,000,000.00.

Let's see now. I guess the smart thing to do would be to put half of it into a retirement fund so as not to worry about the future. Next, eliminate the house payment by paying off the house. Car payments? Not anymore. Children's education, taken care of. Credit card debt...oh wait, just ran out of money. A million dollars doesn't go very far these days, does it?

But even after doing all this, is life taken care of? Retirement funds are a wise way to put money away for old age. Yet how many retirees are finding the money they'd invested in companies like AIG somehow turned into less than they'd anticipated? I'm not against saving for the future; but can we place all our faith in the all-mighty dollar? During a recession, the dollar is not as all-mighty as it used to look.

Of course, there's no more house payment, right? But wait, there's still the yearly tax bill, the homeowners insurance, maintenance, electric bill, phone bill, gas bill, and the list goes on. The only thing that disappeared was the mortgage. And since that retirement money can't be touched till at least the age of 59 1/2, these other bills will have to be paid somehow.

What about the car? Once again, insurance, gasoline, maintenance. Then after about 10 years, if you've taken really good care of your car, it's worth just about nothing because cars, unlike a home, depreciate rapidly. Before you know it, it's time for a replacement vehicle. They just don't make cars like they used to.

The children's education is an excellent investment. However, if you think that's the last time your child will ask for something from you, think again...

Bummer, ran out of money before getting to that credit card debt. Expenses get higher every year. One million dollars sounds like such a large sum of money, a huge wealth, but it disappears so quickly. Money doesn't bring us the security we're looking for.

But a relationship with God does. He promised that if we "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be given to us as well." (Matthew 6:33). My answer to my cousin was that she doesn't need a million dollars to be a stay at home mom. She needs to be content with what she has, even if it's not everything she wants. God provides everything we need, including peace. Money never does. The security money brings is temporary, fleeting, and uncertain. The security we get from the Lord is permanent and sure. Yes, better to have just a little.