Where do you put your money? Most of us, of course, put the lion’s share of our money into groceries, house payments, car payments, and so forth, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the money you don’t spend on day to day living.

Most of us either do or at least could have some money available each month that doesn’t go for routine spending. If we don’t have any such pad, we need to alter our spending habits. No matter what our income is, we should spend something less than we take in.

As I say that, I have to confess that I haven’t always followed this advice. For many years I barely scraped by and always had the attitude that I would save or invest or give when things got better. Funny thing is, they never got better.

When I was around 40 years old, I was at my lowest point financially, and I felt a certain desperation about ever changing that. Strangely, it’s only when we’re at our lowest that some of us finally look to God. Several influences came together at that time to turn my attention to Him.

For the first time in my life, I began to tithe. As meager as my income was at the time, the amount of my tithes would hardly be noticeable to the ministries I gave to, but God uses a different ruler from ours. He saw my willingness to tithe as submission to Him, and He rewarded it. He did wonders in my income within the next few years.

At the time, my motivation was primarily the scriptures the prosperity preachers love to quote. I gave in expectation of blessing. Despite my warped motivation, God did bless me, and along the way, He opened my eyes to a deeper truth about giving.

In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6, Jesus talks about not laying up treasures on earth, urging us instead to lay up treasures in heaven. Then in verse 21, He gives us this jewel:

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I began meditating on that little verse. I thought about Wall Street traders and how their hearts were so wrapped up in the Dow-Jones and other indications of the stock market. I thought about some of my cousins and uncles who farmed and how their minds were always occupied by concerns about the weather, commodity prices, and other such things. Truly, where our money is, our hearts will be there, too.

There is nothing wrong with investing in the stock market. My wife and I have made major commitments to it. Nothing wrong with investing in a cotton crop either. But for both peace of mind and security, we should invest in God’s kingdom first.

This little verse showed me how to get my heart into God’s kingdom. I’d been a lukewarm Christian long enough. It was time to make it all real, and this verse showed me how to do it. Giving to my church and to various missions and ministries allowed me to let Jesus become more real and more personal to me.

Beyond the mere principle of giving, however, there was a power in where I put my money. One of the early recipients I picked was Fort Worth Teen Challenge. As I gave to them, I began to develop a real love and concern for the drug-addicted and alcoholic women this wonderful organization serves. I’d never cared about them much before that, but now these people are very important to me.

Along the way, I picked up Union Gospel Mission of Fort Worth to give to. I’d never given much thought to homeless people until an old family friend landed there, but now these people are precious to me.

More recently, I’ve been giving a little money to support the mission work of a young lady who dares to take her blonde hair and fair skin to the Middle East to share Jesus with Muslims. The amount of the monthly giving isn’t large, but my heart for her and for her ministry is.

This one little verse has made a huge difference in the quality of my life.

Where do you put your money? Have you tried letting some of it lead your heart into God’s kingdom and into some of the specific works He and His people are doing?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.