There is a lot of money waiting for one of the three people who are left on "Survivor." What else could motivate someone to endure bug bites, snake bites, and back bites from strangers? Why else would anyone endure hunger, boredom, and health loss? Each contestant is hoping to win the $million prize!

Our lives as Christians are not about money, yet we can't survive without it. Money is part of every day, every deal, and almost everything we do. Today, we are going to look at what the Bible tells us about how to survive financially. We will review some Biblical principles that can help us use our money wisely as God intended. But we are going to start by looking at a principle of common sense…

The most basic principle for avoiding financial struggles is simple: Do not spend more than you make. The average Canadian family's goal is similar to that principle, but not the same. Most hope to make as much money as they are spending! Here are a couple of humorous examples of what I mean: A boy who was doing his math homework asked his father, "Dad, can you help me with this problem? If a man earns $500 a week and his wife spends $600 for…" "Stop right there!" his father barked. "You'll have to ask your mother to help you. She's a specialist in that kind of math!" - While standing in line at Zeller's, a young man watched and listened as the young lady ahead of him had her purchase rung up. The clerk asked, "Cash or charge?" The young man was shocked to hear the young lady answer, "Cash. I never charge anything." With an uncontrollable impulse, he tapped her on the shoulder and gushed, "Will you marry me?" It goes both ways too. There are guys who have trouble spending less than they make when it comes to filling the garage with toys. Do we always spend less than we make? Statistics say we spend more!

The principle of spending no more than you make is true, simple, timeless…but not always possible. People with unbalanced bottom lines populate the pages of Scripture. How about Ruth? She was reduced from a partner in a happy marriage to a poor widow forced to pick up cobs of corn that were missed by the harvesters in order for her and her mother-in-law to survive. Jesus told about an equally poor man named Lazarus who was forced by health and circumstances to compete with a band of dogs for crumbs of food that might fall off of a rich man's table. Elijah described the dire straits of a widow with a young son who had only enough cooking oil and flour to bake one last loaf of bread. There is no crime in being poor, but there is certainly a great deal of pain and hardship in having no money, isn't there?

What puts people in such difficult positions? Sometimes it is the unexpected loss of job, a major health problem, huge home or car repairs, or even college tuition for our children. You can blame the government too, if you want. Tomorrow is our deadline for "giving to Caesar what is Caesar's." Is that frustrating anyone? Well, there is a story circulating that when Ottawa finishes simplifying the tax code, there will only be four lines left: 1. How much did you make last year? 2. How much did you spend? 3. How much do you have left? 4. Send it in!

For other individuals and families, financial struggles are a result of trying to keep up with the Jones' - our brothers and sisters, neighbors and close friends who build a bigger house, buy a newer car, go on a longer vacation, or enroll their child in a more prestigious school. For kids, it might be what clothes your classmates are wearing, or what games they have for their computer. The cost of competition may be more than we can afford. Instead, God commands us in his Word, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house…or anything…that belongs to your neighbor." And again in our text, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because…never will I leave you: never will I forsake you." Doesn't this give you the sense that there is something SO more important in life than keeping up with the Jones'? Something so more valuable than things money can buy?

A third group of individuals spends more than they make because they "want," but won't work for it. In Proverbs, we hear, "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - and poverty will come on you like a bandit." St. Paul addressed the balance between work and wages in his letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat. We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat."

Oddly, at the opposite end of the spending spectrum are those who spend little and hoard much. Having too little isn't their problem. Loving what they have too much is! The Bible addresses our never-ending desire with the words, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This…is meaningless." Judas is the poster-boy for this very spiritual problem. He sold his Savior for 30 pieces of silver! Sadly, he lost his soul in the process, just as St. Paul warned in one of his letters, "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

Do we always keep our lives free from the love of money? I can't look into your heart, but if it is like mine, then I can say that this is something we struggle with every day. We make money become our priority! And then, we are happy when things are going well financially. But money also leaves us, doesn't it? So when our trust is in that, we are let down, depressed, and downright worried! That is what is going to happen whenever we give our finances a higher priority in our lives than God. We "pierce ourselves with many griefs!"

None of us wants grief. We want grace. We need grace. We need God's grace, his undeserved love, to take away our sins, including our sins of misplaced values and misspent cents. Money leaves us. All earthly things do. God never does! "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." How did God show us that He never would forsake us? How did He find a way to forgive us for all of the times we hold other things in life more dear than we hold Him? He didn't hoard what was most precious to Him! He did not value even the life of his perfect Son above his love for you and me! He used the lifeblood of his Son Jesus to pay the price for our sins of greed. Isn't the irony incredible? If this doesn't illustrate what grace is all about, I don't know what does!

If you want to know value, true value above any price tags, take a moment to appreciate what the precious blood of Christ has done for you. Martin Luther's explanation of the 2nd paragraph of the Apostle's Creed sums up what Jesus has done for you and me. "I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death, that I might be His own and live under Him and his kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity." How precious you are to God! He did not hoard what was most precious to Him and leave you down his list of priorities. He gave it all up so that you could have life with Him! Forgiveness. Peace.

Jesus says to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." If we, by faith and God's grace, put Christ first in our lives, then we can put money in its place: that is, as a means to purchase the things we need. We'll work for it. We'll spend it wisely. We'll share it with people less fortunate. If you can do this, you can survive your finances! You might not win a million dollars, but you can bank on God's promise: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you!"

A businessman had an angel come to visit him who promised to grant him one request. The man requested a copy of the stock market quotes for one year in the future. As he was studying the future prices on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, he boasted of his plans and the increased riches that would be his as a result of this "insider" look into the future. He then glanced across the newspaper page, only to see his own picture in the obituary column. He stared at it in silence for some time. Obviously, in light of his certain death, money was no longer important. You don't need that to happen to you to put everything into perspective. You know that your day will come. On that day, because of your eternal alliance with Jesus, you will have a God welcoming you with open arms into heaven, because He has promised you, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you!" That promise is all you need to survive finances. That is all you need to put life into perspective! Amen.

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