Back to the Basics...

So I have recently taken a little break from blogging. A lot has been going on in my life (ie. the birth of my beautiful daughter Sophie). I will talk more about the joys of being a father and the fact that I have already been able to learn some life lessons from Sophie.

But...

Today I want to focus on another wonderful thing that has happened recently. As of this week my wife and I are officially debt free!!! WOO HOO... come on somebody! This is of course aside from our student loans, of which I am praying that Jesus will return before I have to pay them back.

Seriously though... I learned a valuable spiritual truth through getting out of this debt that we were in, and that is what I would like to talk about.

I had some stock investments, etc. of which I was not earning a whole lot of interest at the time. In fact as of late, these shares of stock had been dropping. At the same time, I also had a credit card that I was paying 28% interest on!!! That's right... I said 28% interest (that's a whole other story though). So a friend of mine who is an acountant started asking me some important questions. He asked if I was gaining 28% interest or more in the stocks that I had (of course I wasn't, nor had I ever earned that much interest monthly). He then asked me if I thought it made sense to be paying such a high interest rate on my credit card when I had this money in the stock market earning minimal interest. It didn't take me long to understand what an idiot I had been for not seeing that sooner.

Needless to say I have taken my previous stock investments and used them to get myself and , my family out of debt. I then realized that this same principal with money carries over into all areas of life. So often we spend the majority of our time investing ourselves into things that kill us rather than free us. Not only is there no return on your investment, but it will suck the life out of you, just like my credit card did. How often are you spending time in God's word? How often are you seeking the Lord out in prayer? I have to make sure that certain passions of mine, such as Auburn football (WAR EAGLE!!!), don't get in the way of my greatest passion... JESUS!

I even have to be careful that I don't put good books, conferences, and pastor's blogs that I like to read ahead of my personal relationship with Christ. Even studying for a message that I am about to teach on Sunday can get in the way of my walk with Christ. These things that I just listed aren't bad things. In fact they are actually great things, and they serve very positive purposes. They're just not great when they come before your relationship with God.

So... it's back to the basics for me!
How about you???