Audit your return

Good morning!  I hope you had a great weekend.

Over the past few weeks most of you have been collecting your personal financial data so that you can complete your tax returns for 2009.   Putting together your financial information is always insightful.  You discover what you earned for the year, your expenses, your charitable giving and so on.   Our tax forms are not simply a government reporting of income and tax liability, but in many ways it is a snapshot  of the priorities in our life.  

For many people the objective of their life is to put larger numbers into the earning box each year.  They work a little harder, a little longer and look for new sources of revenue in an effort to secure a better way of life.  Unfortunately with each new calendar year, the count returns to zero.    So the question becomes:  “What did you do that was lasting in nature?”

Matthew 6:20-21 (NASB)
20 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
21 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Work is a normal part of life, the real issues arise when our work only feeds a continual cycle of needing more.   So much of what we are working to obtain, is temporal.  They are things that quickly lose their value and at some point will no longer be desirable. 

As you look over your financial information this year, perhaps you need to conduct your own personal audit.  As you examine the figures for 2009, determine if those 365 days were well spent.  What did you achieve in those 365 days?   Whose life did you invest in over that time period?  What did you establish that was lasting in nature?   What adjustments do you need to make this year?

As you take this time to evaluate.  Commit your ways before the Lord this week and ask Him to lead you into those things of lasting value.

Until next week, may God's richest blessings be yours.

Carl