Early on in our marriage, Mandy and I would find ourselves occasionally over drafting our checking account when we were still very new at budgeting as a married couple, as opposed to two separate individuals. Many of the times we over drafted were rather unnecessary because we actually had more than enough in our savings to transfer over to prevent us from over drafting. In my stubbornness and pride, I was very reluctant (maybe even rebellious) to transfer any money from our savings because I had always viewed that account as untouchable unless it was for emergencies. I was more willing to suffer and pay the overdraft fee than to transfer money from our savings account to avoid it! How ridiculous is it that I had a savings account that I was able to draw from to avoid paying unnecessary fines, and yet I chose to live as if we were broke!
Sadly, I see many Christians live this way in regard tothe riches of grace that are stored up in Christ for them to draw from; they are living broke while having a huge bank account! There are so many marriages, parents, families, and individuals who are living their spiritual lives as if they are broke, suffering from many unnecessary consequences, all because they refuse to draw upon the riches of God’s grace and wisdom that are readily available for them to withdraw from without charge! Maybe it is for the same reasons that I refused to touch my savings account?
Christians can often be too prideful, stubborn, or even in denial that the situations they find themselves in are worse off than they are willing to admit, even to the point to where they would rather suffer the consequences of their decisions than run to God and His Word for help during those times.
Especially during the holiday season, many people are desperately trying their best to make the most of their time with family, friends, and loved ones. Unfortunately, a lot of people find themselves simply sweeping a lot of unresolved tension and issues under the carpet just long enough to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas, without truly reconciling anything, and then as soon as the holidays are over all of that unresolved tension comes right back out from under the carpet.
On November 27, I will be starting a 4-week series titled “How to Build Your Home”. This series will focus on what it looks like to draw upon the riches of God’s grace for Christian living, marriage, parenting, children, and our work lives. Christians are living spiritually broke despite having an account of endless riches to draw from that would deeply bless their lives. At the same time, there are even more people who are spiritually broke and they don’t even know it! These are the ones who do not yet have access to God’s unending riches because they have not yet become members of His bank. To become a member of God’s heavenly bank is to trust and believe in Jesus Christ to be your accountant (boy, this analogy is starting to get away from me!). Through faith in Christ alone, you enter a personal relationship with your Creator who desires for you to live richly in Him!
To take this banking analogy one step further; those who put their trust in Christ will immediately have all their sinful debts paid off so that at the end of their life they will not be punished for any debt. However, those who reject the riches of God’s grace through Jesus Christ already have a debt so insurmountable that when they die they will be punished forever for their sins against God. God’s grace is freely given to those who believe and there is nothing that can be done for it to be earned.
I hope you will join us for our 4-week Christmas series starting this Sunday so that you can know how to live richly in the riches of Christ.
In the riches of Christ,
Pastor Corwin
