Never Turn Away From His Teachings

I recently saw an article titled “Emergency :savings shortfall signals ‘danger’ for working households, Suze Orman says”; so I did what any financial professional would do, I clicked it, hoping there was some fuel in there that would prove a point so many of us already know. And to my benefit, it did. It said, “More than half of workers — 55% — do not have enough savings set aside to cover a $500 emergency expense, according to a recent survey from SecureSave”.

All I could do was laugh. Not because it was funny, but because all I could think about is how our culture and environment is more focused on what we can see than what the numbers and common sense says. Because the last time I checked, 55% is over half; meaning the majority of workers would not comfortably be able to cover a $500 out of the blue expense.

Yet, if someone randomly came up to us and asked what the score to last night’s game was or who this celebrity’s last 3 spouses were, we could answer in the blink of an eye. We can count on each other to confirm the signs that we’re caught in the same trap, but we can’t count on each other enough to be able to take care of ourselves, let alone to help someone else.

I could go a mile down that road and not be halfway to my destination, but what I actually want to focus on is this:

• The national average salary in America is $69,846.57.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides data on median pay, and as of Q2 2026, full-time workers make $1,251, or $65,052 per year.

Taking an average of 21.5% away for taxes at this value, we can assume someone being paid the median or average salary will physically receive in their paychecks throughout the year $51,065.82 to $54,829.55.

When single earners come together this value is much healthier to live on, but assuming this isn’t the case, how can you blame anyone for not being able to cover a random $500 expense knowing that in our economy today, everything is drastically more expensive than it’s ever been?

Here’s why, they have not listened to their Father’s instruction. Let me explain through the following 2 verses.

1. “Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching.” Proverbs 4:1-2
2. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

When we breakdown the words in Proverbs 4:1-2, we get:

• Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be mindful and observant, so that you may gain the ability to understand people and situations in a very clear way, for I give you good commands/principles to follow; so do not renounce or turn away from my teaching.

And what does He teach?

• Do not be made into someone who acts, thinks, and does the things that align with the world / the things not of Heaven, but be changed in every way by the newness of your mind which can only be done by testing His Word; and once done, only then will you be able to identify what is the will of God, which is what is good, what is acceptable, and what is perfect.

How this ties together:

Money is a tool – nothing more and nothing less; but it is a very unique tool. It’s unique because it is the primary tool in our convenience driven country. Where trading goods and services was once the way when communities were developed to bring people with varying skills together so that each could focus on their task to ensure their community had the service(s) they provided because nobody could do everything on their own, people now prefer to live completely alone and provide nothing to their peers because the majority of us are already trading the only thing we believe we have, time.

Where people once only traded their excess to provide in their gaps and built systems that’d allow them to keep their pantry’s full in the winter, people now have no systems whatsoever, and because we have no time to build any (so we think), we’re stuck relying purely on the only tool that requires zero work on our side to get the things we need / want quickly, which is money.

But as we see above, over 55% of workers don’t even have excess money.

The intersection of all of this isn’t led by a lack of literacy around money management like so many platforms lead us to believe; it’s led by a lack of purpose and understanding in general, which can only be obtained through a connection with our Father.

You see, when we have a relationship with God and not merely just a weekly group appointment to show up where we think He lives on Sundays, He speaks; and yes it’s very clear. It sounds like when you were a child and your mom or dad would say something to you like, “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side”. For years you thought you understood what they were saying, but it wasn’t until you actually spent time trying to digest what they said through speaking with them, asking questions, researching what others have said about the phrase, how others have lived the phrase, and how you can look back on moments in your life that this was the case. Meaning, He’s always speaking, but we’re not spending enough time listening. We’re not doing the work to understand what He’s saying or how He speaks.

We are saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and the Living Word of God who is our Father, and it’s really that simple. If we listen to our Father’s instructions and never turn away from His teachings, then we’ll have all the answers we need when we need them. We must lean not on our own understanding, but on His. His timing is perfect.

So to understand what we should be doing with our financial portions, we must first understand who He is, and what the purpose of all of this is for.

I love and appreciate you, and am here to show you that as you need it. May God Bless you and yours.

See you next week.

EJM