Philippians 4:19 “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
John Wesley’s father was an Anglican vicar with nine children who ended up in debtors’ prison. So John felt great freedom in being financially self-sufficient when he started earning his own salary. But one cold winter day, a chambermaid came to his door. He had just bought some pictures to decorate his room and showed them to her. She was so poor that he noticed she couldn’t protect herself from the freezing wind. He reached into his pocket to get some money to buy her a coat but realized he didn’t have enough. He immediately felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit that he had wasted his money on those pictures. He thought to himself: “Will thy Master say, ‘Well done, good and faithful steward? Thou hast adorned thy walls with the money which might have screened this poor creature from the cold!’ O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?”
It was a defining moment in Wesley’s life. He recorded his income at that time. It was thirty pounds. His expenditure was twenty eight pounds, so he gave away two pounds. He kept his expenditure the same for the rest of his life, and when his income soared to six times that sum, he gave all the rest away, the equivalent of six figures nowadays.
Was there anything wrong with those pictures? No, but the Lord used them to convict his servant about investing in what really mattered. Can you spend money on non-essentials of beauty and pleasure? Of course! But it’s worth reviewing how much we spend, what we spend it on, and why. So often it’s a luxury, not a need. May Wesley’s sensitive hearing of the Spirit’s voice rub off on us. Can you hear Him?
Lord, I choose to use my God-given resources wisely for your glory today. Amen!
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