No. 1209 -- WITH ME: IT IS NOT ABOUT MONEY!

No. 1209

Jim Davidson...NEWSPAPER COLUMN

WITH ME: IT IS NOT ABOUT MONEY!

Writing in the Fourth Century B.C., the Greek teacher and philosopher Aristotle ((384-322 B.C.) had this to say about money: “Money is a guarantee that we may have what we want in the future. Though we need nothing at the moment, it insures the possibility of satisfying a necessary desire when it arises.” The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Now take note, not money but the love of money. All through the ages, since money came into existence, it has been a source of contention. People have counterfeited it, killed for it, lied about it and spent their lives trying to get more of it.
Well, I am here today to tell you that I have been so blessed. With me, it’s not about money and never has been. I need money like everyone else to pay my bills, live comfortably and have a little left over for a rainy day. When I was younger, I set goals to have more money, but I also understood what money is and how to morally and ethically get more of it. To be honest, I guess the die was cast for me in 1970 when I left a job with a great income to start a new career with no guarantees that I would succeed and have sufficient income to have the standards that I mentioned a moment ago.
First, understand that money cannot be sought directly. It is simply a medium of exchange, something we have that we can trade for products and services that we do not presently have. If we want more, we must provide others with high quality products and services they desire and will exchange their money for it. At this point I would like to make a simple statement, and I hope you will really tune me in if you are ready to enter the work force or still working in a job or career. The key to financial success is not necessarily having more money, it is what you do with the money you are earning or presently have.
To validate what I am saying, the only time I ever had a job with a regular paycheck was the seven years from 1957 to 1964 when I worked for a printer on the east side of Little Rock and started at $1.35 per hour. Ever since that time I have been on straight commission or owned a small company, where I had one man that I paid to narrate my radio program. This action came after I strained my voice and had to have someone do my talking for me. I am like the old boy who said he started with nothing and still has most of it.
At this point, please allow me to tell you that I have saved the best for last. In 1984 I confessed my sins, repented and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Shortly after I was baptized, I was asked to teach a junior high school boys Sunday School class. It did not take me long to realize that I did not know the Bible, and I made the decision to read it all the way through in one year. Well, I continued the following year and did not stop until I had read it for 25 straight years. One of the verses I learned has truly turned my life around in the area of money. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”
One of the things I soon learned is that you can’t out give God. The more you give and do for Him, the more He will bless you. I started serving, giving and helping others and He has blessed me with more than 300 radio stations to carry my radio program, more than 375 newspapers to run my column, and all the income needed to meet our needs. I don’t have a lot of money but more than enough for that rainy day. Don’t worry about the money -- just serve, earn and save a part of it, and He will bless you, too.
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(Editor’s Note: JIM DAVIDSON is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist and founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated to over 375 newspapers in 35 states, making it one of the most successful in the history of American journalism.)