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A Bag with Holes

by Jerry Ousley  
5/01/2010 / Christian Living

I worked for a certain place as the purchaser for several years. The job required me to walk out into the shop from time to time to take inventory and ask questions. On one particular day as I was walking I happened to look behind me. There on the dirty concrete floor lay a shiny quarter. No one else was around so I counted myself fortunate, picked it up and jammed it into my pocket. I continued walking. Suddenly I heard something, looked behind me and there lay a dime. Again, no one was close by so I picked it up too, looking around to see if someone was playing a trick on me and I poked it into my pocket as well. The third time I definitely heard a pinging noise. Another person had to be following me and throwing coins at me for there right behind me lay a nickel. I had to pick it up but this time with a smirky sort of smile for the benefit of whomever it was throwing coins at me. Hey, if they wanted to throw their hard earned money at me as a joke I'd be happy to put it in my pocket! But then, as I placed the nickel in my pocket I made a startling discovery. As my hand slid in to place the nickel I couldn't feel any other change. Where'd the quarter and dime go that I had found and where was my own change? Then my finger went a little deeper until it slid through a large hole in my pocket. The change I was finding was none other than my own! Despite my embarrassment I quickly retraced my steps to retrieve all my lost change and duly placed it in my other pocket which I had already inspected to make sure it didn't have a hole too!

It reminded me of life. How often do we feel like all the money we earn is quickly gone? When the bills pill up and we have to pick and choose which one to pay first and which ones fit into our weekly budget we soon feel as if we are just putting our money into a bag of holes. When we reach in to see what kind of surplus we've got we discover that the bag is empty again.

In Haggai 1:6 we read, "You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes." The Lord was speaking to the people who had returned from exile into Babylon. When they first arrived they were allowed to build their own homes and get established in life. But the plan all along was that they were to rebuild the Temple. Time passed and still they had not laid the first stone. I can almost hear them when they'd have their town meetings, "We've got to get started on it. Joe, you head up the committee on getting the stones together, and Leroy, you take charge of the timber committee. Bill, you've got the interior finishing committee and Sally Jane, would you care to head up the decorating committee? Okay let's reconvene next month to see where we are so we can get started." The next month rolls around and nothing is accomplished. Everyone has their excuses as to why they haven't done anything and so they talk some more about how the funds aren't coming in, or this emergency or that has come up and they must use what they have to cover it. So it goes on month after month with nothing accomplished.

Finally the Lord gave Haggai the prophecy found in the first chapter of his book. Because of their procrastination no one was getting ahead. Am I trying to say that the lack of our blessings and our financial short-comings are because we've been disobedient to God? Not necessarily. They could be, but it could also be a result of our poor planning or not recognizing what God really wants us to do. We think we have to be like everyone else and often we find ourselves in the trap of "keeping up with the Joneses" or Smith's or whoever.

This can also apply spiritually. We can find ourselves down in the "mulygrubs" feeling as if we're getting nowhere fast in our relationship with the Lord. Could it be that we're putting our resources into a bag with holes, or poking them into a pocket without a bottom? Maybe it's time we get a new pair of pants, or a new bag, or at least patch up the old ones. We do that by seeking the Lord, reading His word, worshipping Him in spirit and in truth and then putting into practice what He tells us. When we do we won't be looking back to see what's fallen from out pants pockets and then retracing our steps in attempt to regain what we've lost, but we can go forward with the Lord confident that we are not putting our resources into a bag with holes.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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