Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you couldn’t afford to do the right thing?
Maybe you accidentally paid for something that wasn’t wholesome or good for your family, but then you thought, “It’s too late. I already spent the money. I can’t do anything about it now.”
Or perhaps you found yourself in a job where you were required to sin in order to stay employed, and you reasoned to yourself, “I can’t afford to quit. How will I pay the bills? I guess I’ll have to keep doing this sinful thing.”
I think a pretty common one happens when a couple is dating and then one day they move in together without pledging their life-long commitment to one another (ie: marriage.) Then someone at church points out that it is a sin for them to be living as a united couple (including the sexual relationship that comes with that) when they are not yet married. Upon hearing this, sometimes even nice, well-meaning people say, “Yeah, but it’s too late. We already paid first, last, and deposit on the new apartment. We know it’s wrong, but we can’t afford to live apart between now and the wedding.”
What does the Bible say about these situations? Well, aside from the general fact that the Bible never even remotely entertains the idea that money should be a higher priority than God’s word, there is a Bible story that I came across recently that is a wonderful illustration of what to do about this kind of thing.
In 2 Chronicles there is a story about King Amaziah of Judah and how he assembled his army. He gathered together a fighting force of 300,000 people from his own country, but then to supplement them, he hired an additional 100,000 troops from a neighboring country, Israel.
Historical Note: This was during a time period when Israel had broken up into two different countries with two different lines of kings. One of the countries retained the name Israel, and they were mostly wicked. The other took on the name Judah, and they were typically less wicked. One of Judah’s mistakes – this happened several kings earlier - was allying themselves with wicked Israel for a military advance not sanctioned by the Lord. (See 2 Chronicles 18:1-19:3)
Anyway, in 2 Chronicles 25:6-8 it says:
Maybe you accidentally paid for something that wasn’t wholesome or good for your family, but then you thought, “It’s too late. I already spent the money. I can’t do anything about it now.”
Or perhaps you found yourself in a job where you were required to sin in order to stay employed, and you reasoned to yourself, “I can’t afford to quit. How will I pay the bills? I guess I’ll have to keep doing this sinful thing.”
I think a pretty common one happens when a couple is dating and then one day they move in together without pledging their life-long commitment to one another (ie: marriage.) Then someone at church points out that it is a sin for them to be living as a united couple (including the sexual relationship that comes with that) when they are not yet married. Upon hearing this, sometimes even nice, well-meaning people say, “Yeah, but it’s too late. We already paid first, last, and deposit on the new apartment. We know it’s wrong, but we can’t afford to live apart between now and the wedding.”
What does the Bible say about these situations? Well, aside from the general fact that the Bible never even remotely entertains the idea that money should be a higher priority than God’s word, there is a Bible story that I came across recently that is a wonderful illustration of what to do about this kind of thing.
In 2 Chronicles there is a story about King Amaziah of Judah and how he assembled his army. He gathered together a fighting force of 300,000 people from his own country, but then to supplement them, he hired an additional 100,000 troops from a neighboring country, Israel.
Historical Note: This was during a time period when Israel had broken up into two different countries with two different lines of kings. One of the countries retained the name Israel, and they were mostly wicked. The other took on the name Judah, and they were typically less wicked. One of Judah’s mistakes – this happened several kings earlier - was allying themselves with wicked Israel for a military advance not sanctioned by the Lord. (See 2 Chronicles 18:1-19:3)
Anyway, in 2 Chronicles 25:6-8 it says:
Then for 7,500 pounds of silver [King Amaziah] hired 100,000 brave warriors from Israel. However, a man of God came to him and said, “King, do not let Israel’s army go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel… God will make you stumble before the enemy…”
Now you can imagine how disappointing a prophecy like this would be. Imagine if you just spent the equivalent of millions of dollars on something, only to then find out that your plans are not what God wants you to do. There must have been a huge temptation to move ahead anyway. King Amaziah was probably very tempted to say, “It’s too late. I already spent the money. I can’t do anything about it now. I guess I’ll have to keep doing this sinful thing. Yes, I know it’s wrong, but I can’t afford to anything differently now.”
Here’s what happened next:
Here’s what happened next:
Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “What should I do about the 7,500 pounds of silver I gave to Israel’s division?”
The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.”
Wow, that’s right. As terrible it would be for Amaziah to lose a bunch of money by undoing a decision he had made (as well as the embarrassment that would come along with that) it’s not as if God couldn’t make up for it. Following God’s word is always worth it. Because God owns everything, there’s a sense in which we must admit: We can always afford to do the right thing.
In reality, our decisions will depend on who or what we value most.
In reality, our decisions will depend on who or what we value most.
