God’s Economics – Financial Statements

The world’s economy always requires people to have financial statements. A financial statement
requires you to list all of your assets and your liabilities and come to some kind of definitive number
about your financial viability.

In 2008, financial statements have diminished tremendously. The value of assets has gone down in
dollars that are now measured by trillions.

God’s financial statement is not about assets and liabilities but about giving. He measures our financial
position not by how much money we have but how much we have left after we’ve given. His whole
economic system is based on this fact that it’s His anyway, it is not ours to keep, but He loans it to us to
be good stewards of His resources. Therefore, the financial statement is based on giving, not getting.

The world likes to applaud people who are called “go-getters.” God applauds people who are “go-
givers.”

In Mark 12, Jesus tells about a poor widow who came up and placed just a penny in the offering plate.
Jesus shocked everybody around him by saying that she had given more than anybody else. The disciples
quickly let him know that he didn’t understand economics because there were a lot of folks who had
given more than she had given. He quickly gave his view on economics by saying that she gave more
because she gave all that she had to live on.

Giving for Jesus wasn’t so much the amount given, but the amount retained by the individual. The size of
the gift is measured entirely different by God’s economics.

God’s economics were employed by the early church as is evident in Acts 4:33-35. It reminds us that
apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus by their giving. He stated that there was not
a needy person among them because everybody would bring what they had and help meet the needs of
those who did not have.

Man’s financial statements change annually because they are based on a tangible amount of what a
person is deemed to be worth. God’s financial statement have endured the test of thousands of years,
and will be relevant forever because it is based not on what a person has left, but what a person has
given.
There are two economic systems—the world’s economic system and God’s economics. You and I, have a
choice.

Understanding God’s economics is so important because it is an indicator of our faith. Jesus said quite
simply in Matthew 6, “Where you put your money is where you heart really is.” Show me your cancelled
checks for 2008 and I will tell you what you really worship.