Less Excess

Deuteronomy 17:17-20 - "And he [the next appointed king] shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel" (ESV).

I know I have not been appointed King and probably will never be, but I like these standards God sets for him, and I feel like I should have them for my life too.

I've been listening to a lot of Dave Ramsey lately (even though I'm not in debt and am pretty good with money), because he talks about investing and how it's "so easy" for anyone to become a millionaire if you just invest a small amount of money every month.

It's pretty enticing, and even though his teachings are laced with all kinds of scripture and there's lots of talk on generosity and right living, it sort of makes me get excited about accumulating wealth, which at this point in my life is more of a hindrance than anything.

Here are the reasons why it's a hindrance:

1. Every time I turn around, there's someone else that needs money. And it's either someone I care about or for a reason I care about, and if I were to think too much about accumulating money, I would not be able to give.
2. I currently do not have a plan for what I would do with accumulated money. I guess at some point I might like to buy a house, mostly because I like to have people over and host things. But right now I have been blessed with pretty frequent house-sittings jobs where the people encourage me to have people over, so it doesn't really seem like I need one yet. I also don't think I need a ton of money for headshots or acting class because I've spent a lot of money on that before, and God has since shown me I don't need money for that stuff. I also don't need an iPhone because I don't need to be addicted to checking my email, and I already have a really nice camera my roommate lets me borrow whenever I need it. My computer's still working pretty well, and my car's still running. And if my car dies, I'm pretty sure my mom is going to let me have hers since she's buying a new one. So yeah, it really doesn't seem like I need money right now. Sure I might need it somewhere down the road at some point, but until that point comes or God gives me a more clear vision for why I should be saving, I think I will just keep on giving. I do have a small amount of money saved for things that might come up, but I do not think it's "excessive," and also I can use it for giving.

I don't want to be distracted by tons of "stuff" or by men, and I really do above anything want to focus on God and his law and living how I am called to live. I do not always do this, but this passage reminds me that as a leader, it's not a bad goal to have.