Counterfeit: Masculinity — Tuesday
1 Chronicles 28:20a
Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” (NLT)
Well, April 15th is coming soon. If that means nothing to you, be grateful. For the rest of us, our income is being scrutinized and we’re settling the tax balance with the IRS. It sure feels like it took a lot of work to get here, doesn’t it? Some days it took more courage than others to roll out of bed and head out the door. And now the taxes. Shew!
Let me ask a question: If you started working full time at 20 years of age and retired at 65, how much do you think you need to bring home, before taxes, to earn exactly 1 million dollars? You might be shocked to learn it’s $427.35 a week. So, it would take an average of $10.68 an hour, working full-time, to earn a cool million. That’s less than half the average income of households in the United States. Even if you were to start working at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 today and work for that same amount of time without ever getting a pay increase, you’d make over $675,000 during your working life. That’s still a lot of money!
So why does it still feel, at times, like we’re spinning our wheels, working our tails off, trying to simply afford housing and food, let alone entertainment and extras? Sometimes it’s not even just about the actual work that we’re paid to accomplish, but also the additional mental work and discipline to be diligent with budgeting, paying bills, planning, and saving.
After all this work, work, work… you might not believe it but 76% of us are in debt. This means the average person stands to make and spend way more than those figures above. Accumulating debt and spending beyond our means seems to be the norm in our culture today. The weight of it can rob us of sleep, joy, and generosity. And God doesn’t want His kids to suffer the loss that comes from accumulating more stuff and sacrificing things that really matter.
If you’re one of the 24% who aren’t in debt and are unhindered in your ability to be generous, thank God for that today. For the rest of us, let’s pray for God to help us want what He wants for our lives, to be strong and courageous, to work hard, while being grateful for what He entrusts to us financially as we ask for His wisdom and help to do the hard work of living with what He’s given.
Tuesday’s Reflection
Even a household living on one income at minimum wage brings home $58 a day working full time. That’s 24 times as much as most of the world survives on daily. If you had to live on $2 a day, how would you spend it?
Looking for a way to be generous that’s beyond finances? Learn about volunteering today!
