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Key Bible Verse: It is better to have little with fear for the Lord than to have great treasure with turmoil (Proverbs 15:16). Bonus Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-10

The Bible study was soon underway, but I was in another world, fuming. Why had God blessed this couple with all these possessions and not me? Hadn't I left "all" to follow His call? Why did I have to live with junk furniture while they got all this great stuff? Besides, I was a senior and they were only freshmen. This wasn't how God was supposed to run things.

Suddenly I was aroused from my tortured reverie by a tearful outburst. The freshman wife, our hostess, was crying hysterically. Eventually she calmed herself down and had the presence of mind to ask for prayer. She explained that she and her husband were in an ocean of debt caused by their uncontrolled spending. She said that the bank was going to repossess their truck the next day.

As I listened to her tell the real story behind these material possessions, I felt compassion for her. But mostly, I thanked God for my "junk," which was completely paid for. I enjoyed a blessing from God that my younger colleagues didn't know.

I learned that evening that there are a lot of circumstances in life worse than poverty.

—Michael Thompson in College Faith

My Response: I'll thank God for the job He's provided and for the solvency that comes with self-control.

Thought to Apply: He who buys what he doesn't need steals from himself. —SWEDISH PROVERB

Adapted from College Faith: 150 Christian Leaders and Educators Share Faith Stories from Their Student Days (Andrews Univ. Press, 2002) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Help me, Lord, to keep things off the throne of my life because Your place there is secure.

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