Bank on It

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

It’s getting embarrassing. I am embarrassingly dependent on my debit card. 

One day not too long ago I couldn’t find it. I looked everywhere all afternoon. Even by the next morning, still no trace. I searched high and low, near and far. I even searched under the sofa cushions. I have to be desperate to do that because it’s scary under there. I found 37 cents, three marbles, a T shirt (how had we ignored that lump?), seven M&M’s, a screwdriver, my favorite sunglasses, and the TV remote (hey, we’d been looking for that thing). But no card.

So I rifled through my purse for the gazillionth time. The first time I went through it, I found a ball of purse fuzz in there the size of a small gerbil. I also however, found the rest of those M&M’s, so I’m calling it a win. Except that—still no card. 

            

I went online to check again and make sure no one had used the rogue card. Nope, no extra charges. Still, I was just this side of panic.

Why is it I wait until panic starts to set in before I remember where I really need to turn? Finally I thought, I’ll do some praying, read my Bible, and then I can take up the hunt again, hopefully with more peace, less panic.

I opened my Bible and guess what fell out! My card! I knew I had marked my place the day before, but I had no idea I’d used my card to do it. Who absent-mindedly uses a credit card as a book mark? This girl. It was a weird move spiritually andfinancially. 

There was a lesson in it for me. A lesson about where I should run first. I found great treasure in the pages of His Word that morning. And believe it or not, the real treasure was not even card-related. Psalm 119:14-16 says it best: “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” (NIV)  

Debit cards may come and go, but true riches are from the wisdom found in knowing our magnificent Lord. Wisdom and understanding are found in the pages of His Word. And, as Psalm 49:30 says it, “A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.” (NIV) That means I can have all the debit cards and all the riches in the world, but unless I have the treasure of the wisdom that comes from knowing Christ, I’m no better off than a dead purse gerbil.

Our wealth is only in Jesus and only because of Jesus—all glory to Him. So let’s give credit where credit is due. Or debit where debit is due. Whichever fits.

TWEETABLE
Where do you run first when challenges arise? Thoughts from @RhondaRhea on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Rhonda Rhea is a humor columnist for lots of great magazines, including HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway and more. She is the author of 10 nonfiction books, including How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Person? and coauthors fiction with her daughter, Kaley Faith Rhea. She and her daughters host the TV show, That’s My Mom, for Christian Television Network’s KNLJ. Rhonda enjoys traveling the country speaking at all kinds of conferences and events. She and her pastor/hubs have five grown children and live in the St. Louis area.