Spend Wisely

I saw a post on twitter awhile back that said something all the line of, "Maybe bribing myself with the potential ability to buy a ---- will motivate me enough to keep a job."

My first reaction was, really???

I'm a workaholic. I love working. I also believe in working hard. I have never had a need for more work. I have never turned down work. I have hardly even searched for work. It just . . . finds me. And I do it. From cleaning houses, to working for small businesses, to office work, to custom sewing, to babysitting.

Some of it I've loved. Some of it . . . was me laboring because it was the thing to do, but I was dreaming of being done soon.

But I've never had to motivate myself to work. Especially with a bribe. I am also a bit of a saver.  I love working. I hate spending money, unless it's on books, gifts, or something large I'm working toward (travel, land, etc).

And any other way seems foreign to me.

So, after reading this tweet and thinking really my next thought was how immature. 

But it didn't stop there.

I started thinking of the meaning of work.

Why do I work?

Why do I save money? Why do I choose to sometimes spend it?

I realized I was just a tad too obsessed with working. I'll admit for awhile I threw myself into my work to forget other things. And then once I'd grown past those things I continued on working, feeling more and more satisfied.

And maybe a bit too comfortable in my cycle of feeling accomplished and seeing my savings grow.

And so I asked myself two more questions.

Why am I supposed to work?

What is money for?

The answer dawned on me immediately. Both were like time, meant to be spent for the Glory of God. Not for my own personal feelings of purpose.

I forgot the tweet I deemed immature and shocking and felt convicted. Isn't that funny how that worked out?

Work is good. I actually will have another blog post on this subject because I think it is really important. After all, work is one of the first things God gave to man. And He himself works a lot. But all of his work has a higher purpose. Work shouldn't control me. It shouldn't be my focus.

And just as it's not good to waste my money . . . It's also good to remember that money is made to be spent. Not hoarded away. The first scripture that popped into my mind with this line of thinking was the PARABLE OF THE TALENTS in Matthew 25:14-30.

Nothing we do should be done without a deep purpose that leads to the ultimate Glory of our Father.

I don't just work to work, I realize. I work because it's what I was made to do. Humans must work and rest as Yahweh did in the very beginning. And as I work I can love those I work for (so it's not about how it makes me feel or how my savings is growing) and I can practice acquiring the habits Yahweh wishes me to have, and I can smile and think on good things and rejoice and praise.

And I can make sure my money is going somewhere good. Not just to be spent on a ***** or to be buried away, no good to me or the rest of the world.

Tell me your thoughts! Are you a workaholic or more of a person that needs something to motivate you? How do you balance either one to serve God rather than self?