Good morning and welcome in. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture but before that we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
Approximately 20 years ago when I was baptized into the Christian faith I decided because of the teachings of Holy Scripture that I didn’t want to owe anything to anybody. Being in debt is like being enslaved. Out in the world today people come home to see more and more bills coming in the mailbox. They become burdened because they realize that they need to go out and get two or three extra jobs just to make ends meet.
People owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to a bank because they purchase a home, not to mention monthly credit card bills, rent or payments for a car purchase. When we live in the world our eyes tend to get too big. In the flesh we desire things that we truly can’t afford. We don’t live according to our means. I call it the ” I want it now syndrome. ” Instead of saving up a little bit of money and purchasing it with cash, people simply go and get a loan so they can have it today.
Romans 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another…
I was the same way years ago, but when I became a Christian I wanted to follow the teachings of scripture and be completely debt-free. In order to accomplish this I had to turn away from Earthly desires for possessions and focus on the simple things in life. I needed a house for my family, daily food for them to eat, and clothes on their back. I was convicted when the scriptures taught to be content with such things as you have.
Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Hebrews 13:5 – Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:
I’m no different than the rest of us because when I was young I wasted all kinds of finances on things that I didn’t need. Instead of being happy and content with a $5 pair of used tennis shoes I wanted a $150 pair. Instead of being content with a good used car I wanted a new one. In our human nature this is the way we are. In order to possess these things one has to go into debt because they are living beyond their means.
The only condition before I married my wife was that I told her we were going to be poor. This was the only stipulation between us. She completely agreed to that.
When we first moved out to Northome MN, we decided to stop living beyond our means. I built a very small house to begin with and paid for it in cash. I’ve noticed that nowadays they make mini homes which basically is what our home was. Instead of using propane or fuel oil we learned to live off the land and burn firewood. Instead of owing a monthly bill to the electric company I decided to use alternative forms of electricity like solar power. Instead of spending money on pre-made foods we wpuld take our tax return and fill our attic with staples for the year such as flour and sugar, baking powder and things like that. My wife and I cooked all our food basically from scratch If we had money come in it was only used on absolutely necessary things. For the first time in our lives, our bills were disappearing.
My children like fresh apples and there are trees in town and at our neighbors that never get picked. We would bring home 100 gallons of apples for the family to eat all winter long. Andrew would plant a garden filled with tomatoes, strawberries and potatoes. The children would gather fresh raspberries, blueberries and serviceberries that grow in our woods for pies or toppings. These activities were completely foreign to me, but they grew on me. Whatever I owned was paid in full. Because of faithfulness to the teachings of scripture my wife could enjoy staying home with the children all day and could watch them grow up while enjoying a good book or simply go for a walk whenever she wanted.
My family enjoy spaghetti so one year we bought a 4$ used pasta machine. In part of our living room we would hang a big string in the ceiling and hang up all the spaghetti noodles to dry. We made so many that we had noodles all week long that we used not only for spaghetti but for soups or pasta salad.
Living cheaply does not mean suffering, you just have to find the simple things in life to enjoy. As a source of meat we decided to get rabbits. We lived off rabbit meat for years which I found to be very healthy and sustaining. Rabbit soup is delicious. Andrew spent a month in the summer building a bunch of hutches and we always had a ready supply of rabbit meat. Eventually we had about a hundred chickens. They provided our family with plenty of eggs and we could butcher some for a fresh chicken dinnerl.
I raised goats for meat and milk. Nobody was hungry in this home, but we were free from the stress of debt thanks to the teachings of Christ. Take it from me, I wasn’t raised this way. I’ve worked in some big cities with extremely high standards of living but looking back all these years I wouldn’t change a thing.
I learned to fish for food for my family. Instead of going to a restaurant or buying high-priced items from a grocery store, we would have mostly home cooked and home-raised meals.
In all these years my wife and I have gone to so many rummage sales and found free things that I cannot even begin to count them all. When our roof finally needed to be replaced on our home, we found someone who was going to throw their entire home in the dumpster to build new. He allowed us to completely disassemble it during a warm July. When I didn’t know what to do for shingles God provided again. Someone approached us with a pallet full of free shingles that he didn’t need. So you see one of my testimonies to the world is when we do things God’s way he rewards us.
Because of the teachings of scripture I couldn’t work alongside other people who didn’t share my Christian faith. I had to find jobs where we could work together as a family at home. Our income is very similar to a dad who has a milk farm. The entire family works and helps out milking the cows. All of us share the work of providing for the family and we all share in the rewards. I think this is the way it should be for families in life.
Before I became a Christian in my heart my wife would go to her job, I would go to my job and Andrew would go to school.
The family unit was completely broken up until 6 p.m. at night. Because of the choices I’ve made to follow the teachings of scripture our family has been able to be together innumerable amounts of time each year. While some people get together on a holidays weekend, Each day is Thanksgiving at our home.
Our children were born on my own bed in this home. I was the first one to catch them as they came out of the womb. They’ve been homeschooled and are home all day long instead of being away from the family unit. When they get tired of schooling they can help out around the house splitting firewood or helping us catch some fresh fish for dinner.
Although we are a severely poor family in the eyes of the world it has certainly never felt like it.
When we learn this lesson today, you’ll find you have a lot of time available for other things. You have more time to spend with your beloved children. You have more time to spend with your wife and most of all you’ll find more time to spend with God.
I have truly learned how to be content in all things. It’s simply a matter of being happy and thankful for what you have, owing no man anything, and letting God take care of the rest.
Let’s think about those things for today and Lord willing I’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. 💖
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