Bait Shop Wall #3 – In Search of the Bigger Worm
The Bible talks quite a bit about this temptation. Paul wrote to a young minister he was helping get started in the church. He told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:6 – 10: “Serving God does make us very rich, if we are satisfied with what we have. We brought nothing into the world, so we can take nothing out. But, if we have food and clothes, we will be satisfied with that. Those who want to become rich bring temptation to themselves and are caught in a trap. They want many foolish and harmful things that ruin and destroy people. The love of money causes all kinds of evil. Some people have left the faith, because they wanted to get more money, but they have caused themselves much sorrow.” Paul tells Timothy that we are rich if we find contentment in what we have. The problem is that those worms tend to dangle there in front of us and make us feel like we are just missing out on something. When it comes to facing this temptation we need to remember a few things.
We live in a time when our happiness has become even more tied to what we have or do not have. If you watch any television or social media you realize that you do not have enough. Even if we do have enough we can be led to believe that we are constantly reminded that someone else has a little more than we have. After all there is not a show called “Lifestyles of the Squeaking By and Middle Class.” So there it is the search for the bigger worm that drives so many people to exhaust themselves and lose more of themselves trying to get a little bit more than the Joneses.
Wanting Is the Strongest Temptation We Will Ever Face
Paul tells Timothy that if you keep searching for a bigger worm that you tempt yourself to do somethings you would not normally do. I wonder how many fish have found themselves fighting for air in a boat and wishing they had never chased that worm. When we chase money we end chasing our own tails over and over again. The problem with money is the fact that most of the time we have the idea that just a little bit more is what we need. Thing is that money is just like worms, they are everywhere and plentiful. When you dig them you just might think you have enough until you lose a few off the hook and then you wish you had more. Loving money can do that to us.
Contentment is the Key to Staying Off the Wall
Paul once again writes a letter to some early believers and wants them to realize that being content is the key to not getting hooked. “I am not telling you this because I need anything. I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough. I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13 (NCV)
There as a key to being content with our possessions. It is a learned thing to be content. Eventually you look at what you have and decide it is enough. No matter what we may be told contentment is simply a choice and you need to make it. After all we are not fish, we can decide to not bite the worm. We have to look around and see that what we have is what we have. When my boys got older and began to leave our house in the their 20s I tried to teach them that they were leaving a house that had been around for 30 years. Shelly and I had things that we have saved for and worked to pay for. I told them we didn’t get this over night. You shouldn’t try to have what you grew up with right away. Take your time and make smart choices with what you chase.
Three Ideas to Help You Get Started With Contentment
Give away all that you can to others. It is a part of my faith to be someone who shares with other people. In fact we give to our church every week. It is the first 15% of everything we make. We believe that the blessings in our lives are directly connected to honoring God with the first part of our earnings. We also share with others when we have it to share. Giving has brought great joy to our lives. It is always good to bless someone else when you can.
Save all that you can. When we first started out we did a lousy job of saving. It was over time that we began to set aside money. It is not a big amount and we have even saved for things in the future. One year we wanted to take our boys on a trip to Hawaii. We decided as a family that for one year we would not go out to eat or spend extra money that we did not need to spend. Every time we thought about going out or getting something we would just say the word Hawaii. Because we saved all we could that year we were able to take our boys for a week that none of us will ever forget. Saving will bring you peace as you don’t have to stress over unforeseen expenses.
Live on the rest. So Shelly and I have sought for the last years to live on about 75% of what we make. It means that we make hard choices and have given up on buying things and have begun to buy experiences together. When you live on what is left you don’t have to wonder why you don’t have anything left at the end of the month. This is a crazy and seemingly impossible way to live, but it starts with making a choice. Living on the rest gives you freedom to do the things you want to do with your money.
All this may sound like a crazy idea. I know it does. We worked to get to where we are know in our lives. Maybe you can’t do it right now. But, could you give away 2% of what you make? Save $10 a paycheck? Live on 95% of what you make? Remember you can either start a plan to stay off the bait shop wall or you can sit and wonder how you got in the picture.
If you don’t write down your plan then your plan will never happen. Many good intentions have died, because as people we are all visual.
Writing it down makes us honestly think it through.
Writing it down makes us be accountable to a solid plan not a good idea.
Writing it down reminds us of what our goals are and why we want them.
Writing it down is valuable because we have taken the time to invest in ourselves.
So what will you do? Will you sit around and wonder where your money went or will you tell it where to go? Start small and let your plan grow into a great future.