The starting point for all wisdom is the fear of the Lord.  Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  Fearing God, in part, means recognizing and submitting to what is true about Him.

I would say that the most fundamental truth of your financial life is that God owns it all.  Perhaps you were raised in a home where this truth was taught and modeled.  Perhaps you did not.  Either way, it is truth.  Either way, you would be wise to bow your decisions, desires, and dreams to God’s sovereign ownership.

What does God’s ownership imply?  It implies freedom.  You are free to follow only one voice, only one standard. You are free to lay down the competing voices that tell you that it all depends on you, it is all yours to spend, it is up to you to make a good impression, it is up to you to secure your future, etc., etc.  Biblical financial reality says that you are free to follow only one God, only one Owner, only one Voice.  

God’s ownership produces freedom, but it also implies responsibility. Matthew 25 contains the “parable of the talents,” in which Jesus teaches His followers that we are just managers or stewards of the resources God has given to us.  As stewards, we will be held accountable for our use of those resources by the Owner, God.  We have a responsibility to know what our Owner desires, asks, demands, or offers.

In both freedom and in responsibility, living with the belief that God owns it all requires a relationship with God.  Only by spending time with Him and hearing from Him will we be free to abandon competing voices and will we be aware of the direction our stewardship should take.  So, today, I encourage you to make one resolution.  Spend time with God.  Ask Him to speak to you about money and your resources.  If you do this every day, He will walk with you through a lifetime of great freedom and great responsibility.