by: Dr. Allen Domelle
Deuteronomy 28:12
“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”
The best book on money principles is God’s Word. Throughout its pages, you will find principles placed in verses like the verse above. It should catch your eyes when God says, “The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure…” No one has more treasure than the LORD. If He is willing to open “his good treasure,” you would be wise to learn what you must do for that treasure to be opened. God shows four principles you must follow to open “his good treasure.”
First, you must do right if you want to open “his good treasure.” God’s blessings come to those who live right. Verse 1 says, “…if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:” God then goes on to talk about how He will bless them for doing right. Doing right has a way of making money. If you have ever looked at how expensive it is to live in the world, you would realize that living right is the best way to live. You will never be able to dip into God’s treasures until you start obeying “all” that the LORD commands you to do.
Second, you must work hard if you want to open “his good treasure.” In verse 11, God talks about blessing their “fruit.” Their fruit was a result of working hard. Money comes to those who work. You can’t expect God to open His treasures if you are not willing to work. The opening of God’s treasures come through hard work. God doesn’t bless those who expect a handout; He blesses those who work hard. You will never see the treasures of the LORD until you get past this step of working hard.
Third, you must pay yourself if you want to open “his good treasure.” In the verse above, God talks about lending “unto many nations.” You will never have money to lend if you don’t learn the value of saving money. In other words, you need to learn to pay yourself from everything you make. When I talk about paying yourself, you need to take a percentage of money from every source of income and set it aside. If you could learn to set aside ten percent of your income to save, you would find, in years to come, a great source of wealth laid aside from your income. Too many people don’t have the character to pay themselves, and that is why they have nothing when they get older. God has opened His treasures to those who work hard, but they must not squander it by not saving a portion of it.
Fourth, you must work your money if you want to open “his good treasure.” When God said they would have the money to lend “unto the nations,” He was teaching them the principle of investing what they saved. Learn to work your money by investing it in safe investments. A man of wealth once told me about investing, “Know what you work, and work what you know.” In other words, don’t invest in something if you haven’t done your homework. Be knowledgeable about where you invest your money and careful to be sure it is working for you.
God desires to open “his good treasure” to you. If you follow these four steps, you will find that God’s treasures are available to you.