Matthew 25:14 – 15 – ‘“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a trip. He called together his servants and gave them money to invest for him while he was gone. He gave five bags of gold to one, two bags of gold to another, and one bag of gold to the last – dividing it in proportion to their abilities – and then left on his trip.”’
Something that sticks out for me in these verses is that we’re not all given the same amount of money to start life with. This doesn’t however affect our ability to save. If we have something, then we can generate something more.
I believe the three talents (or bags of gold) show that it doesn’t matter how much we start with, we can all have the same result – doubling the money. This is the value of exponential increase. Every number has the opportunity to double in value.
If we start with $1 and turn it into $2, then it can become $4, then $8, $16, $32, $64, $128, $256, $512, $1024.
This is our initial amount doubling 10 times. Ending up with over $1,000 after starting with $1 is pretty incredible! Now granted, it will take a pretty impressive investment to be able to consistently double our money. But it shows you how a little amount can be turned into a great amount over time. This can also happen with our savings.
Note that the money was divided out in proportion to their abilities. Don’t find yourself questioning how much God has given you and becoming resentful. Instead, be excited about the opportunity to be a good steward of what He has blessed you with!
Setting Up a Savings Plan
Any money that you are able to save and invest in a savings account will earn you interest. And this interest once paid out, will earn you more interest. Let’s consider a small example:
– You put aside $100 at the start of January. It’s money saved, but not earning interest. You put aside another $100 each month until you’ve reached the end of December.
– Your savings totals $1,200; $100 for each of the 12 months in the year. Good job!
– You put $100 into a savings account at the start of January. It’s earning 5% interest. You put aside another $100 each month until you’ve reached the end of December.
-Your savings totals $1,233.13 with interest at the end of the 12 months. Through no extra work you’ve amassed an extra $33.13. Wonderful!
You didn’t work any harder to be able to achieve this higher amount of money. You may look and think but it’s only $33 more, big deal. But it is. After two years of doing this, you could have amassed $2,400 or earned interest gaining $2,529.36.
Don’t worry yourself by trying to do all the sums, just know that money in savings that is not earning interest, isn’t working for you like it can be. Make it work!
If you’re curious about how much you’re able to put away and what it’ll earn in interest, take a look at this excel spreadsheet. Change the amount to a figure that suits you and look at the results!
It is my prayer for you:
– That you will recognise the value of exponential increase over time.
– That you will see value in a savings account that earns interest and work hard to have money in one.
– That you will appreciate how any form of interest earned is extra money that could be utilised for God’s kingdom.
Today’s prayer:
Lord I thank you that you have provided me with the opportunity to save and to earn interest. I pray that you will help me to find a savings account that will best put my money to work so that I can use it wisely as it increases.
Actionable ideas:
Do you have a mortgage? Research the idea of an offset account. Setting one up means that any money you have left over for the week or that is put aside to pay upcoming bills can be sitting against your mortgage debt and keeping your interest down. It’ll save you thousands in the long run.
*these posts are from Wealthy Christians, a 30 day devotional. You can download it free on Smashwords.
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