I called out to my wife, “Wow, babe! Take a look at this house!  It has everything we have been looking for, and it’s even on a lake!”  She looked at the ad I was showing her. Her face fell. I knew why…

‍

We built our modest home 24 years ago. It is not bad. It is a little dated and could use some updates. God blessed us with a home where we could raise our children. We have had friends and family visit and stay over. We have celebrated countless birthdays and holidays there. We started looking when we decided that we wanted to find something that would work in retirement and not require us to move again. Rewind.

‍

About a year ago, we were moved to increase our giving in a sacrificial manner during the Restoration Life series. It was a move to trust Him more with the resources we were blessed with. That decision carries a cost. It’s interesting to me that there are economic lessons in the spiritual principles that we practice. This one is opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is any gain you pass up by deciding to use one of your resources in one way that is different from another. It reflects what you give up to pursue a particular choice.  In other words, there is a cost when we choose to follow God in our finances. The spiritual principle is sacrifice. I can no longer spend that money on something else.  

‍

Often as a new believer, we can look at the sacrifice of a tithe and balk at the idea.  We see the new cars that others are driving.  We see the nice clothes, the vacations, the Instagram feeds, and we think to ourselves that we will miss out.  I will lose something.  My friends won’t like me then. I won’t be stylish. My image or my reputation might suffer. I’ll lose the likes on my social media. The idea billows in our minds that the sacrifice will be too much, maybe even the thought that I won’t have enough for what I need for my family. Fear. Apart from the willful choice to obey and the encouragement from our fellow believers, we will turn away from the path before us.

‍

Ruth 1 tells the back story as Ruth commits to following the God of her husband and in-laws.  We see what this costs her, leading up to her asking to glean from the field of Boaz in an act of neediness and dependence (Ruth 2:6-7). She not only lost her husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law, but her people and social identity. While it was an established way to provide for widows in the Jewish culture of the day, there was certainly a loss of dignity in that sort of dependence.  

‍

To become a follower of Christ can result in tremendous loss of family and people we once held as friends. To follow after Christ changes everything for us. What was once “my” money becomes my stewardship of “His” money. It changes how we view the world around us.  We become sojourners instead of inhabitants or residents.  Our eyes are set on a different goal.

‍

That house…with our change in giving, this type of house became something that was not financially possible. There often comes a voice that questions our decision to give. Never to cut it off but to just reduce it. To make it reasonable. That is the voice of the deceiver, Satan. As a follower of Christ, my finances are no longer mine to direct. It may mean that we stay in our current home for the foreseeable future. It may just be for a time. I don’t know. But I do know that in being willing to seek God’s will in this, the return will be great. Maybe not great in the mind of the world, but certainly in the terms of eternity.  And over time, we have had enough instances of this happening that we look forward to seeing what God has in store for us.  After all, God's challenge to us in Malachi 3:10-12 has proved true:

‍

‍Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. (NIV, emphasis mine)

‍

Any worldly opportunity cost pales and withers in the face of His promise!

God, give me courage to follow after you. This world tells me I will lose everything if I follow you. Help me to experience the worth and reward of obedience and dependence on YOU. I surrender the values of this world and ask You to instill in me Your values instead. Amen.