Paying the Bills

Today is bill paying day here at my house. It is one of my least favorite days of the month. The bank account goes from looking fat to looking thin all in a few keystrokes as my wife pays bills online. I always feel as though my personal stock market has just crashed. However, I surely am thankful that we have the resources to pay those bills. There may be very little left over after the payments clear but I remember days when paying bills was like running my own lottery. There were a few winners and several losers each month.

The thing that galls me most about our bills is all the little credit accounts we have open. Those $15 and $25 bills add up quickly to a significant amount if one is not careful and disciplined. The euphoria of instant gratification from buying on credit turns into a painful sting at the end of the month when the bill comes due. The misery is heightened by the interest added to the balance. I know it feels good to get what you want when you want it. And I know it can be easy to disregard the added expense of credit buying. After all, who does not need QVC's special value of the day? Sometimes I think I do. I may even need two since they are offering "easy pay" on my credit card.

Do you remember the old commercial where the mechanic says you can pay me now or pay me later? That later payment was always more expensive. That is what buying on credit is like when the balance is not paid off each month.

With that economics lesson in mind let us consider our spiritual lives. Care and discipline are needed there too. Our flesh, the old nature, wants instant gratification. It is selfish and short-sighted. The flesh does not care about end costs. It may want love (physical relations) but is willing to substitute lust for love. Lust is the inordinate fulfillment of any desire but what I mean here specifically is illicit physical relations between people who are not married to one another. The flesh may want rest but is willing to be lazy and put off until later some work that needs to be done presently. These are just two examples. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7 to not deceive yourself because a person will reap what they sow.

To use our examples, love and rest are good and necessary things. There are costs involved with both. Love requires a person to give himself to another. Rest costs time. God has declared in His word right ways of enjoying both love and rest. Married couples enjoy physical love with one another as a blessing and benefit of their union. The resulting satisfaction is guilt free and fulfilling. Sadly, I feel the need to state that when I speak of marriage I mean the union of one man and one woman. Rest is another good and needed thing and when properly taken rejuvenates the whole person.

The flesh wants to distort God's rules and causes the costs to rise dramatically. Lust (as stated above) adds interest to the costs by causing guilt due to infidelity, lost fellowship with God (not lost relationship) due to sin, and lost self-esteem due to disappointment. Laziness adds to costs by guilt over missed opportunities and wasted time and also affects one's self-esteem. God's word and His ways can not be ignored without the penalty of additional and, sometimes, painful costs.

In Proverbs 10:22 God says, "The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Just like the sorrow of paying bills loaded with added interest, there is sorrow from paying for choices that ignore God's principles. Do not fool yourself. Bill paying day is coming.

Because He lives,

Robby