[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during April 2024]
Recently I saw a photo of a billboard poster. Its message read:
Save 100%
↓
Don’t buy anything
Presumably the author was making a cynical observation about the multitude of adverts on the shop fronts lining the street, luring shoppers with the prospect of incredible ‘savings’. Of course, these price reductions are only savings if you wanted to purchase that item anyway; splashing out on items that you had no intention of buying just because they seem like a bargain results in no savings at all.
The prophet Isaiah raised a pertinent question:
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Isaiah 55 v2 [ESVUK]
The Bible does not have a lot to say about saving in the financial sense. Perhaps the best-known reference is that in what is sometimes called the parable of the talents or the parable of the unproductive servant. Both Matthew and Luke record variations of the parable, including the rebuke addressed to the man who had done nothing with the talents with which he had been entrusted:
Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest? Luke 19 v23 [NIVUK]
What have you done with the talents with which you have been entrusted?
Does the prospect of a bargain get your attention, does the chance of a good deal get you excited? One of the wisest men who ever lived had some advice for those who were trying to get rich at the expense of others:
A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.
Proverbs 28:19 [NLT]
Assuming that you were able to benefit from some reduced-price deal what would you do with your savings? In Sunday’s ‘Yours’ Dazz[1] reminded us of the words that Jesus spoke concerning laying up treasure in heaven. Speaking through the prophet Malachi God was more emphatic:
Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!
But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’
You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple.
Malachi 3 v8, 10 [NLT]
Dazz concluded by suggesting that we may need to revise our priorities and adjust our budgets accordingly.
Returning to the sign that prompted these thoughts – there was no discount on the price that Jesus paid at Calvary but the savings were beyond measure. As Christians who have benefited from that transaction, we would want to make some changes to the text on the sign:
Saved, 100%
♰
Didn’t buy anything
(It was a free gift)
References:
[1] Dazz Jones, HBC ‘Yours’, 21/Apr/2024 referring to Matthew 6 v19-21
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys