 Second Chronicles chapter 2 is one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and I'm not sure one specific reason why, maybe it's because I'm a father, maybe it's because I like building projects, maybe it's because I kind of strive myself personally for a lot of the things that are in Second Chronicles chapter 2. I don't think that I'm there, but I mean I hope that this is a good, just a great valuable passage in the Bible for us. I think there's a lot of detail here that is valuable for us, especially as men today in this story in the Bible. This evening as we talk about the second sermon in the Making Sense series, I want to talk to you about making a living. I want to talk to you about, you know, this tonight's sermon is going to be about income. And not only just about income, but making a living. And I want you to, if you have a pen, I want you to write down that phrase, making a living. Making a living is not just income. Making a living is making a living, and I'm going to explain what that is. So what I want to do this evening is I want to first do a Bible study through Second Chronicles chapter 2. I want to look at some of the details that God gives us in Second Chronicles chapter 2. I want to give you a little bit of application about Second Chronicles chapter 2, and how it applies to making a living, and what, you know, I mean by making a living. And then at the end of the sermon, I want to give you some specific details on what that means to me. And, you know, I'll give you, that's kind of a unique thing about this sermon series is at the end of each sermon series. I'm going to show you how I'm applying this sermon in my life, and you take that for what it's worth. Maybe nothing to you, but I'm going to just give you some specific details. Because many times we'll hear a sermon and we'll say, yeah, that sounds good, but we won't know exactly what that means when you put it into action in someone's life, your life, my life, anybody's life. So I want to give you some details about how all this fits together. So let's look down, let's first, you know, study Second Chronicles chapter 2, and see what the Bible is telling us here. What I want to look at is verse number 13 of Second Chronicles chapter 2. Of course, the context of Second Chronicles chapter 2 is Solomon is building the temple. I mean, this is one of the biggest, most important building projects in the history of the world is what we're talking about here. So no matter what kind of projects you've ever been involved in in your life, you know, this is a big one. So let's look at how God prosecutes it, how the men in the story prosecute it, and see what we can figure out from this story. Look at verse 13. Solomon sends a message to the king of Tyre saying he needs some help. He needs some materials, he needs some support for this building project. The king of Tyre was, of course, a very good friend of Solomon's father, David. So he gets a good reaction from the king of Tyre. In verse 13, the king of Tyre writes back and says, And now I have sent a cunning man. So not only did the king of Tyre send materials, cedar trees, and all these different materials, but most importantly, he sends this man to Solomon. He says, And now I have sent a cunning man endued with understanding of here are my fathers. The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan and his father was a man of Tyre, and he was skillful to work in gold and silver and brass and iron and stone and in timber and purple and blue and fine linen and crimson. Also, so he's able to work all these different things and also to grave any manner of graving. That means he can carve things, he can mold things, he's a blacksmith, he can make things out of metal. Look at all these things, these aren't things you just brass, iron, stone. You can make some tools and some skill to do these things to grave any manner of graving, to find out every device which shall be put to him with thy cunning men and with the cunning men of my Lord, David, thy father. Now if we look at this story in 1 Kings chapter 7, you'll see that really this man ran the project. You'll see that this man was the man. So I mean, he's kind of throwing David a bone here. He's like, look, I'm sending you this guy. He knows how to do everything pretty much. He's like, but he can work with your smart people too, right? But look, if you look at 1 Kings chapter 7, it basically says he did this, he did that, he did this. It's all supporting this man in the way he built this project. Look at verse 15. And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel after the numbering wherewith his David, his father, had numbered them. And they were found in 150,000 and 3,600. And look at verse number 18. And 3,600 overseers to set the people at work. These were the managers, the guys that were the superintendents that were supervising the work. So we had 70,000, 80,000 and 3,600 and then we had the one cunning man who was in charge of the project. So let's look at this. Turn to Proverbs chapter 22. Let's look at this man. Let's look at this man and just look at some characteristics of this man and see what we can get from this. This king of Tyre needed to impress a more powerful king than himself. And something, you know, in something that this more powerful king, Solomon, needed to get done. Look, many things needed to be done here in this building project. You can go and you can read about all the details of the temple. I mean, there was a lot to be done here. Look at Proverbs chapter 22 and look at verse number 29. So look, he needed to impress this king. He needed to do something that really supported this project for Solomon. Because, look, he was friends of Solomon's dad and I mean, he just wanted to do something for him. So what did he do? He calls this guy. He calls this guy. Now look at Proverbs 22 and verse 29. The Bible says, and we've talked about this a couple of weeks ago and that's why we started out with that sermon a couple of weeks ago because it's coming to fruition here. We're seeing it in 2 Chronicles chapter 2. See, see is thou a man diligent in his business. That's what we talked about two weeks ago, diligence. He shall stand before kings. He shall not stand before mean men. This is the guy right here. This is the guy that when something needs to be done, that when something important needs to be done, the king calls that guy. The king called this man. So let's look at some aspects of this cunning man and see what we can learn from him. The first thing, look back at 2 Chronicles chapter 2 and look at verse number 14. The Bible says this about the cunning man. The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan and his father was a man of tire. Skillful and then he lists all these different things. So the first thing I want to tell you and the first thing I want to point out about the cunning man is this. He was taught by his father. He was taught by his father. Look, this is a man who clearly spent a lot of time with his dad. This man. And in 1 Kings chapter 7, I mean it says that, you know, now his mother is a widow. This man's dad is no longer around and now he is the one that can do all these things. That is why the Bible describes, when it describes how great the cunning man is, it goes ahead and right away goes into what his father could do. What his father had skill in. That's why it's relevant that the Bible lists everything his father could do. Look, his father was very skillful. Dads and moms don't miss this. Are you teaching your kids skills? Are you teaching your children as they grow up how to do things? I mean they are not going to learn these things by accident. Working on things when your boys get older, they should be with you. They should be with you. They should walk. You say what? They can't really do anything to help me when they are 7. They should be watching you. They should be watching you do things. You say why? Because, well, first of all, they'll watch you and they'll figure things out and eventually their first job, and my kids know this very well, but your first job as a helper to dad is to be a gopher. Go for this and go for that. That's what you do. Right? And the first thing that you need to, guess what? When you're a gopher, you need skills. You need skills because when I'm sitting there and I'm talking to my 6 year old son and I say, you know, go get me a pliers and he comes back with a screwdriver. That's, there's a problem there. So now it's time to have a teachable moment where we go to the toolbox and we go over all the tools in the toolbox. And you teach, I mean here's a home school lesson right here. Home school lesson. Moms, take your kids out to the toolbox. Dads, take your kids out to the toolbox. Look, take a trip out there. It might take a few times. It might take a few times to figure out all the different types of tools. But look, that's how they graduate from being a gopher to being an actual helper in something. To where they could actually maybe go, and it's really cool to see this by the way, as they grow up, from where they can go from actually being a gopher and going to get you a screwdriver to hey son, could you go fix my car for me? Thanks. And it happens. That's investment. But that's what the cunning man's father clearly did. And that's why, how do I know that? Number one, because he could do these things. And the Bible says that he was described by how his dad was, how his father was. I mean you think about all these things that we do from building to fixing to cooking to keeping a home. Ladies, you're not going to be free and clear in this sermon. Keeping a home requires a lot of skill. I mean yesterday, the guys were out fixing and cleaning things and the girls were decorating and cleaning things. We're all working together as a family unit. So from the dad to the mom, you need to teach your children some skills. And we'll get into some more details here. But look, this man clearly learned his skills from his dad and probably his mother too. So look, he had skills. He had this huge list of things that he could do. He could, I mean the best part of it, you know, the last part was he could, you know, and to find out every device, the Bible says. That he was able to find out every device. Look, he was able to, don't miss this, he was able to figure things out, this guy. He was able to figure things out. This means, you know what this means? This means that this man had education. This means that this man had the ability to think. Look at verse 13. You say you're making that up. The Bible tells us that too. He had the ability, someone had given this man an education. Someone had given this man the ability to think about things and solve problems and figure things out. You say, okay, that's obvious. Look, nobody can figure things out anymore. Nobody can solve a problem today. No one can, you know, troubleshoot through two or three different steps. It's a little bit scary to me, actually. As I see that, you know, where we're headed in this country. Look at verse 13. The Bible says, and now I've sent a cunning man endued with understanding. What does that mean? Endued with understanding. That means that he was given, endued means this, to give qualities or abilities to, to endow, to gift, to invest, to empower. That's what it means. Someone has invested in this man. That's where, I mean, it didn't say he woke up with understanding. It didn't say he fell into understanding. It said he was endued with understanding. And we know from later verses that he was endued by his parents, by his father, this man. So look, someone had educated this man. Someone had taught him how to think. Look, this is another beauty of homeschooling, if done right, is that children can become self-starters in their own education. Children can be taught to become, you know, these, these, these thinkers. That's why, that's why homes, that's one of the greatest powers of homeschooling if done right. Whereas you're not just set in a, in a classroom with a bunch of other kids to do the bare minimum. And all I have to do is just check the same boxes to everybody else. I mean, they're teaching you to be institutionalized. Homeschooling should teach you to be free-thinking, to be self-starting in your education, to figure things out. To look into things. When you, when you have history, homeschooling, history lessons, we let the kids study a subject for almost an entire year. So they could just become immersed in that and just, you know, become endued with that understanding of that topic themselves. By reading, of course, it's always from reading. But look, that's how he became this person that could find out every device. Because somebody invested that into him. And that takes time. That takes time. And because of this, because of this, look, look at verse 18. Because of this, he was in demand. He was in demand. Look at verse 18. When the king needed, like, the most important task done, he called this guy. Look at verse 18. There were 70,000 laborers. There was 80,000 hewers. There was 3,600 superintendents. And there was one, this guy. There was one cunning man. He built, you know, he, in First Kings chapter 7, if you go back and you read that, the whole story is just, you know, this guy, Hiram, was his name. It says, he built this. He built that. He did this. He did that. He had all this, all these 70,000, 80,000, 3,600, they're all support staff to him. I mean, it's amazing. So look, he had the skills from his parents. He had the education clearly from his parents. And because of this, he was in extremely high demand. Now look, this is at another level. And we'll talk about that in a little bit. But look, let's talk about the sermon this evening. That's the cunning man, right? How does that apply to making a living? You know, what do I mean by the way? What do I mean by making a living? Look, what we're talking about by making a living is I'm not talking about having a job. I'm not talking about having a job. You need to have a plan that will gain you the skills to the point where you can make upwards, and I figured it out personally myself with the plans that we're putting together. You need to be able to make upwards of above $25 an hour to live in this spot where we stand right here and have a family. That would be required. You know, that would be called making a living, in my opinion. I mean, what I'm talking about by making a living is that, you know, not just that you're surviving, but you're doing it on your own and no one else is supporting you. Okay? So, I mean, look, there's all these men around you in this church with families that aren't being supported by anybody else. They're making a living. That's making a living. People have figured this out. Okay? This is a great, unfortunately, this is a great miss amongst Christians today. This is a great miss. You know, we teach a lot of things and I've preached it myself. College is wicked. College is wicked. Don't send your kids there. But look, don't get me wrong. Education is necessary. Okay? So, don't get me wrong. Don't take something that I say and run completely in one direction with it and miss the point. You know, colleges, you know, but you'll find people today, young people today, college is wicked. They just get in church and I'm just going to go soul-winning. That's it. Well, if you're a man and you want to make a living and have a family, it takes more than that. It takes more than that. Look, we're glad that you're saved. We're glad that you're in church. I mean, praise God for that. But there's more. There's more that's required. So, let's talk about making a living. The cunning man. And more importantly, his father had some skills. That is what a trade is. You say a trade, no one's going in the trades. Look, this is not a college or not college thing. A trade is a skill. If somebody comes out of college and they have something where someone will hire them and pay them a living, they have a trade. They're able to do something or make someone money. Everyone that makes enough money to make a living, whether or not they went to college or not, has a trade, has a skill that's valuable. That's the bottom line. You must have that. So, you need to learn to do something that not everyone knows how to do. That's the bottom line. Notice the numbers of people in verse number 18. Notice the 80,000. Notice the 70,000. Notice the 3,600. Notice the one cunning man. Who do you think made a better living? Now, look, the cunning man, look, the cunning man, and look, this is something that we take for granted in this country, by the way. There's a lot of cunning men in this country. Now, let me tell you something. Over the last 21 years, there's been several times where I've had the extreme privilege to be in rooms of these men. And in my case, it's always been men. Where I'm sitting in a room of five people. And I'm looking around the room and I'm saying, man, with the five people in this room, we could build this entire project from the beginning to the end, just us five. I mean, that's an extreme privilege to be amongst men like that. You know, those are the cunning men. There's a lot of cunning men like that. And, you know, look, there's a saying, you know, if you're the smartest one in the room, I mean, that's the bottom. I mean, I love being in rooms like that. I love being in rooms like that where there's just so much experience and so much knowledge, where you basically, just like this morning, you basically just shut your mouth and listen. And just, you know, but anyway, that's the level that the cunning man was at, by the way. When you're at that level, you know, that's way beyond making a living level. But, you know, it's something to strive for. Okay, so like, look, young men. You need to ask yourself, what do you want to be when you grow up? I mean, that's where it all begins. I mean, that's where that cliched, you know, question that the father and the mother asked their son, that's where that comes from. What do you want to be when you grow up? You need to ask yourself that question. Write that one down. If you don't know, you need to figure that out. You need to have a skill or something that can make you into what you want to be. And the guys were well taken care of. The same applies today. It's supply and demand. As the supply of something goes down, the demand goes up, and so does their income. So, look, don't just go to work and just do what you're told is the bottom line. Instead of being that guy that goes to work and looks at the guy that makes more money or the boss and saying, I should be like him and I should make more money, I should be like myself, what does he have? What stills does he have that makes this company or makes this boss or makes whoever pay him what he makes? That's what you need to ask yourself. Maybe you start talking to those men in that position. You start talking to those people that are in those positions and figuring out, hey, what is it that you have that you do for this company? How do I get in? How do I work towards that? One of you used that word with me today. Networking, that's what it takes. Instead of that guy that's just you know, I should make more money and you know, look, ask him. Ask him what it makes, what it takes that makes the company pay him more. And look, you probably don't even have to ask him, you probably see it if you're honest with yourself, but I guarantee you it's this. It's a combination of training and skills and education that's why. You know, after all this then the simple answer is just work harder and work more after that. I mean, look, this is a prerequisite is always going to be skills and training but after that it's just work harder and work more. I mean, an answer for making a living could just be opening up something that's simple, a pool company and just working really hard at that. I mean, that could be an answer. I mean, that's a plan. So look, the bottom line is you need a good plan and we talked about this in diligence, but look, if you have no, if your current plan has no future ability to make you a living, that's you need to have a different plan is the bottom line. Don't just run in place because all it takes is just having a good plan and executing it. That's the bottom line and look, it can be done. People have figured this out. So look, it's a good plan and executing but it's if you need a plan, the Bible says iron sharpeneth iron. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. There's iron here, use it. I mean, that's one of the benefits of being in a church and being in fellowship in a good church is there's iron here. Use it, let it sharpen you. So there are examples all around you in this room of people that have figured out how to make a living. If you're just in a job where there's no opportunity for that, you need to figure this out. You need to figure that out. So those are the two ways. Those are the two ways to increase your income. Those are the two ways. Work really hard or get that education, that skill set and just work hard at it. But here's another way. Let's look at the flip side of this. Turn to Proverbs chapter 18. Let's look at the flip side of making a living and now is where the ladies come in. Now is where the ladies come in. Let's talk about discretionary income. What in the world? Discretionary income. What is discretionary income? Discretionary income is what a household or individual has to invest, save or spend after taxes and necessities are paid. Basically, after you've paid all your bills it's what's left over. And you say, well, there's nothing ever left over. Well, listen up. This is another way to increase your income. And of course the Bible talks about it. Look at Proverbs chapter 18 and look at verse number 9. This is the other side of the coin on how to increase your income or how to better make a living. Look it's not to waste what you do have. Look at Proverbs chapter 18 and verse number 9. He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. This is an interesting verse because it basically tells us why some people are always broke. I mean, it's two reasons really. It's laziness. Look, and first of all it doesn't say the guy doesn't work. It doesn't say it doesn't work. I mean, this is the guy that goes in and does the bare minimum. This is the guy that goes in and works somewhere for two weeks and then works somewhere else for two weeks and then works somewhere else for two weeks. This is that guy. I mean, it doesn't say that he doesn't work. He's just slothful in his work. He's just never really going to be that guy that goes out and tries to figure out how do I increase my skill set? How do I take forklift training and get qualified for all this stuff and keep going and keep building and building and building on this skill set because, look, you've got to build a long way to get to the cunning man. So, I mean, it takes constantly pushing forward. Constantly pushing forward. So, look, this is the guy that's just not going to be that guy. He's just going to be the guy where he's like, man! He's like, I should, you know, this is the guy who's hoping for minimum wage to be increased and that's how he's going to get, you know, more money! Like, you're crazy! You know, look, if that's your plan, that's a bad plan. I'm telling you right now, you're going to fail. Alright, look, this is the opposite of the guy that is looking to get better to learn more, but the second part of the verse is really where I want to look. The great waster, okay? The great waster. So, let's look at ways to waste money because, look, if I make a bunch of money, look, I'm telling you this and I've told my kids this maybe a billion times and they're probably rolling their eyes right now. They would never do that though because that's disrespectful. But, look, it doesn't matter how much money you make. You can blow it all. You could make, I mean, how many stories of actors and football players and all these people that make millions of dollars a year and you're like, they're bankrupt. They're broke because they blew all their money. They're great wasters. They're great wasters. It doesn't matter how much you make. If you're just like, oh, if I just made another $1,000 a month, if I just made another $2,000 a month, everything would be fine. No, it wouldn't until you plug the holes in the boat, which is what we're going to talk about right now, okay? Because at the boat, look, if the boat has a bunch of holes in it and you're just filling it up with more water, so you're going to put more pressure, you're just going to flow out faster is what's going to happen, okay? Look, ways to waste money. Restaurants. Look, if you have no money and you can't afford to buy essential items that you need, you should never be going out to restaurants ever. I mean, look, ladies, cooking at home is not only healthier, but it will literally save your household hundreds of dollars every month. Hundreds of dollars. I mean, we would take day trips this summer and my wife would make sandwiches and it would save us a hundred bucks because we didn't have to stop to eat one and a half times or whatever it was. I mean, we do that stuff all the time. Since coronavirus, I've pretty much kicked restaurants. I'm pretty much done with all that, but look, it's a lot more work for my wife and I see that. It's a lot more work for my wife. She's cooking all the time, but look, we save a lot of money because of this and I can totally see it in the budget. Okay, look, you should never eat out if you have money problems, period. Put that one down just like the credit cards. If you have money problems, look, unless you just have all kinds of extra money and you have savings and everything's good, you should not eat out at restaurants. You say, well, just fast food. No. Fast food's expensive. I mean, I'm serious. I mean, you go to Carl's Jr. and you buy like four meals for your family, it's like a billion dollars. I'm like, are you serious? No deal. You know, look, you used to be able to get a cheeseburger, I still remember this, a cheeseburger for 59 cents. You know, at McDonald's, first of all, it's not good for you, but that's another sermon. It's horrible for you. I mean, you're just killing yourself. But anyway, entertainment, entertainment. Look, non-essential items, Amazon, I mean, get away from the buy it now button. You know? I mean, control yourself a little bit. I mean, beautiful. I'm sorry all you guys that work at Amazon. But look, you got to control yourself on the non-essential things. Home Depot I go there all the time, these Halloween decorations don't get me started. It's insane. I mean, people are, I mean, people are spending hundreds, yay, thousands of dollars. And where do you go? We go soul-winning in the poorest neighborhoods and they're the ones that are buying it all. I mean, it's just all the stuff. I see it at Home Depot and I'm going to get stuff and then I go, you know, down in the hood to go soul-winning and it's like there it all is. And I know I'm like, that was $4.99, that was $2.99 and I can remember the prices. I'm like who's buying this garbage? You know, I mean, forget the wickedness of it. It's just a huge waste of money. I mean, a 10 foot rubber dinosaur on your roof? I mean, are you serious? Where do you even find a rubber dinosaur that's 10 feet tall? We saw it the other day. It might have been metal. It was hugely expensive though. I'm just imagining the conversation there, honey. I know you make 14 bucks an hour. I'm going to take two weeks of your work and I'm going to buy this dinosaur and put it on the roof. Okay, that sounds good. I mean, look, these people are just, I mean, they're just wasting money. Don't waste money on all this stuff. So here's ways to save money the other way. Do things yourself. Do things yourself. Maintenance. Here was my day yesterday. Here was my day yesterday. I fixed my car. I fixed my dining room table. I mean, I told my wife I have to stop. I'm too productive. It's crazy. I have to slow down. I mean, look, I fixed my car with a $15 part. It would have been at least 400 bucks to bring my car in. It was $15. And, you know, it was some time because I don't really know what I'm doing and I'm not really that good at it and I scratched some things up, but whatever, it's fixed. You know, I know how to fix it, right? Because here's the thing about fixing stuff yourself. You get to keep the knowledge. You know, there you're building on that knowledge and you're building on that knowledge. You have somebody come fix stuff for you. Not only do you waste hundreds of dollars, but you don't get the knowledge. They get it. They get the education out of it, right? I went to, I fixed my dining room set. I mean, I went to the hardware store with Ashley. I fixed the dining room set. I mean, what's a dining room set now? I've had this dining room set for 21 years. We got it when we were married. You know, I got this thing and I fixed it for like $4.99 with some two-party poxy. I was at the hardware store with Ashley and I told her, I was like, you know, in 20 years when you start dating and somebody wants to marry you, I said that, you know, if they don't know what two-party poxy is, no deal. When you come to my house and eat and you sit in my dining room set, you're sitting on more epoxy than you are wood. Did you know that? I mean, I've fixed those chairs so many times. But I mean, I'm going to have it for my goals in another 20 years with that table and chairs. I mean, that's got to be at least $1,000, right? A new dining room set. So look, there's no reason... But look, seriously, there's no reason that you should not be able to fix most things in your home. And you say, I don't know how, but here's the thing, here's the wonderful age that we live in. Somebody has had the same problem and made a video of it and put it on the internet. You know what I mean? I can't tell you and you save money, you save your skill and you just get more cunning and more cunning and more cunning. Call me, I'll help you. And we'll get the skill together. But the bottom line is this, we live in a throwaway society. We live in a throwaway society. I can't tell you how many $800 washing machines and dryers and dishwashers and tables and all these things and furnaces that I've saved with a $10 part or a $20 part. And it's not because I'm some genius. It's just some little stuff. I mean it's that simple. Turn to Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31. Look at Proverbs 31 and verse 11. Women, you thought this was just about the guys. Here it comes. Proverbs 31, look at verse 11. The Bible says the heart, this is talking about the virtuous woman, of course, who's a crown to her husband, the Bible says, the heart of her husband thus safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. Verse number 11 here is talking about how the wife can be a directly financial blessing to her family, to her husband. You say why? Because in the whole chapter she's providing for the needs of her family. Look, there's two ways to provide for the needs of your family. First of all, the first way is you go out and buy everything new. And the second way is you go out and you bargain shop and you find deals on things and you use those dollars that you have to go as far as they possibly can. Thrift stores, garage sales. Look, you can literally pay 10% on the dollar of what people will pay new. If you're just smart about some things. I think I could be a billionaire and my wife would still shop at thrift stores. And that is such a blessing. That is such a blessing. I mean clothing and food, we'll talk about this next week, but that's like 20% of my monthly budget. It's like necessities like that. And if you can save there, you can effectively ladies give your husband a raise if you think about it that way. You say, you know what, I was going to go do things this way, but if I work a little bit harder and I find some deals and coupons and all these different things and savings codes and all this stuff, I can save 300, you just gave your husband a 300 dollar a month raise. I mean you can really be effective. Life is expensive, it's more expensive if you buy everything new and re-buy it when it breaks. So if you can find deals, you can fix things, you can save a lot of money. So look, conclusion. Let's get specific. Men, you should be striving to increase your income. Young men, you have got to figure out a way to make a living wage which is 25 plus and it needs to have no ceiling on it from there. You need to be able to find a way to make that kind of money. And if you're like in a job and you're just like I can't figure out a way in this job or a way path in this company or whatever to get to that point, you need to rethink your plan. This is just my math. And there's not just a single answer here. There's all kinds of things like overtime, other sources of income, business ideas. Look, you've got to be thinking California. I mean it is no joke living here. It is the most expensive place I've ever lived. For sure. And the answer is not waiting for wage to increase. You have to use your brain. You have to use your brain and you have to work hard. And parents, you should be helping your boys figure out something here. You should be helping your boys figure out. You say boys, what about girls? Well, my girl is going to be a teacher and she is going to be extremely educated and she is going to take college classes and she is probably going to get some kind of degree online to help her become a great teacher for her children. So when she does get married she will just hit the ground running. She will marry some men who can make a decent living and provide for her and her children and then she will be able to provide that world-class education and be that virtuous woman that keeps that home and saves her husband money and does all this stuff. And look, that's the plan. I mean, that is a virtuous life right there. But look, this is let me get specific. You need to help your boys figure something out here. Now boys, now you parents of young kids they need to have this plan ideally by the time they are 14 years old in my opinion. They need to have this plan. Another benefit of the homeschool child right here, you will be able to as you homeschool that child because all kids are the same. No, they're not. Some kids are going to have more skill sets in one direction and the other. Look, you'll figure those things out and you can guide them in a certain direction. But you need to get there. They need to have that plan in place by the time they are 14 or 15. Why? So they can take advantage of that homeschool environment and start this education, this training, this trade early. Why not? And begin saving money. And begin saving money. It's a huge advantage to be able to do all this while you're living at home. It's a huge advantage and it cannot be missed. It cannot be missed because it's only one time in your life that this will happen. There will never be a time when you are able to save money like you can while you are being single and living at home. Period. Look, and I've said this a million times too. As soon as you get married, you're going to be immediately broke. But ah! But now I have some savings. But ah! Now I have some skills. Now I'm married and I don't have zero to negative in my bank account. And I have some skills that can make a living. Now maybe I'm not broke. And I have a plan to keep getting better and better and better at this. And maybe things are looking much better now. But you can't start this plan and expect it to all be great once you get married. You know I am shocked, I am shocked how many people think I'm going to walk into marriage with no skills with no education with no plan. I mean have a nice life. I mean it doesn't work that way. I mean welcome to I mean real world is going to kick you in the face. If you operate that way. I mean what's going to happen is someone is going to have to help support you in your new family. Is what's going to happen in those situations because you won't be able to support yourself. Whatever this plan is I guarantee if it's a good one it will consist of write this down training, education, skill or a combination of those three. It will consist of that. And then you just from there determination and diligence from there. Just operate like you're your own business wherever you go and whatever you do. And on the flip side of that men and women be thrifty with the income you do have. I have known men that have had wives that financially broke them. Have you ever met these guys? I mean talk about rottenness in your bones. It's the opposite of a crown. I mean it's important you know the direction for a wife and a woman when it comes to the finances of her family is just as important as the man because you can make it break it on either the husband or the wife's side. It sounds like we have to have a lot of things in order. Yeah you do. I mean the guys that I knew whose wives broke them they didn't make they made a lot of money. And their wives broke them. Like I said if there's holes in the boat it doesn't matter how much money you make. Notice in Proverbs 31 again because the husband because of the wife has no need of spoil. That means that that boat is solid. It doesn't leak. She's just so careful. She's so mindful with the finances they have. By the way that's showing respect to your husband. When you go out and you take that hundred dollars or you say I'm going to take this hundred dollars and I'm going to get as much as I possibly can with it because this is my husband's labor. Then you know what will happen? He will have trust in you. He will have no need of spoil. Is what the Bible says. She wastes nothing. She takes care of the home. You know what if you take care of the home you know what things won't break as often and you won't have to fix them or replace them if you just take care of things. Look some people some people just destroy every place they live in. You met these people? Look that's an expensive way to live. You just destroy everything? You just take whatever it is you buy and you just run it until it stops running. A lot of people live that. That's an expensive way to live. Take care of your home. Your cars. Your cars. You want to talk about how to have your car not financially break you? Because your cars can financially break you. Here's another thing. My wife cleans the vehicles every few weeks. I have a constant running list of things that I'm always behind on but I do have a running list of things that I need to fix on the vehicles all the time. It's constant because things always break. I fix one thing, something else breaks. It's just a running list. I don't stress over it. It's just something that I do. I just keep fixing. My dad used to always say this. I can still hear him saying it. My dad used to always say this. When something breaks on a car it would be the smallest thing. And my dad would always say fix it right away. Because pretty soon you got nothing. That's what my dad said. Pretty soon you got nothing. I can hear him saying it right now. The little door lock thing breaks. You got to fix that. You got to get that part. He would just obsess over it. He was much better than I am today but I still have it in me. I'm just not as good as him. He would just obsess over it until it was fixed. Pretty soon you got nothing. Because you got a car. Think about it. You got a car and you got a billion little things broken on it. And then something breaks where it actually stops running. It won't roll anymore. And you take it in or you try to get it fixed and it's like maybe a thousand dollars to fix it. Then they're like man this thing's wrecked. It's not even worth fixing. Because pretty soon you got nothing. So you got to just keep up with things. You got to keep up with things. I got a cupboard in my bathroom. It's coming off the wall. If I don't fix that water is going to get back there. It's going to wreck the wall. I'm going to have all kinds of problems. I better go out and get some caulking for $299 and fix it. And show my son how to use a caulking gun in the meantime. Run some screws into the wall. Show him how to find studs with a stud finder. Show him how to run screws with a screw gun. I mean look I get to keep all that. He gets to keep all that. And then I don't wreck my house and cost a thousand dollars worth of damage. $299. Pretty soon you got nothing. I can hear it right now. Like everything was a life lesson with my dad. I mean just everything. I'm like oh come on can we just get a hot dog? It's like everything. But anyway, thank God for it. When things you own last longer you need to replace them less. That's the bottom line. Turn to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3. One last thought on income. Let me give you one last thought on making a living. One last thought. Here's the thing. We're not to obsess over money. And this sermon series is not about obsessing over money. But look you have to make a living. It is a command in the Bible that if you're a man you have to make a living. And some people have just never figured out. But look we will have those. There will be those. That look at those who make a living and say yeah and they don't want to go through all the steps that someone's gone through to make a living. Because look if you have somebody that makes decent money and makes a decent living for their family they have gone through something to get there. That didn't just happen overnight. And you'll have those who just don't want to go through that. They just don't want to go through that learning and that effort and the education of it. Because look it's hard. It's hard taking tests after tests and failing and then trying again and failing again. Look it's hard. I hate taking tests. I'm probably never going to be done taking tests. But I hate it. But you just do it. But you're going to have those that say yeah you know I'm just not that concerned about money like everybody else. The Bible says this. The Bible says for we hear that there are some why don't we really focus on verse number 11. Look at 11. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but are busy bodies. So these are people that don't really work. Number 12 says verse 12 now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. So all I have to say to people like that is look if you completely provide yourself you can make statements like that. You can make statements like that but if someone is providing for you home food etc. i.e. you're living then you know you don't have the right to have that attitude. You need to make a living first. Look I knew a guy one time years ago and this was kind of an eye opener for me and I thank my wife for the moment but look years ago I knew this guy and he just lived in squalor and this guy I mean look this guy he lived on somebody else's property he didn't pay rent but this guy he was an adult he was married and he had children he had several children and I remember you know telling my wife I was having a conversation with my wife one time and I just said you know I just don't know why I was just kind of lamenting just kind of like confused and I just said I don't know why this guy didn't get it together I was like he's such a nice guy I said to my wife and my wife you know she said I mean she didn't agree I mean she said he's not a nice guy it's like he's not nice she said he's not providing for his family she's like he's a jerk and I'm like oh you know see my wife my wife saw it from the perspective of his wife because who did my wife spend time with my wife saw his wife and she saw her life and she saw the life of their children and she's right I mean it kind of like snapped me out of it and like he's not a nice guy he's not a nice guy and you know he is a jerk as a matter of fact the bible would say that that guy is worse than an unbeliever he's worse than an infidel man you have to figure this out you think God you think God is going to bless you with a family when you can't get this basic step down you are living in a dream world if you think that if you can't figure this out and you're not trying to here's the thing if you're listening to preaching like this and you can't figure this out and you're not you don't really have a desire to figure this out here's the thing you don't want a family you don't want a family Luke 16 the bible says in Luke 16 in verse number 10 it says he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much and he that is just in the least is unjust and also in much you think that you're going to walk through your life single young man and you're going to just I'm just going to go to church and go soul winning and whatever you're not you're not showing God that you're faithful when you do the things that God says you're supposed to do to make a living and provide for your own that is when God will bless you with a family that is when God will bless you with a wife that is when things will start falling in place with you and let me tell you something I've seen this so many times in the Christian life I've seen it both ways I've seen people getting it together I've seen that woman too I mean God loves that woman that wants to get married too I mean you have to figure this out you have I mean we're not to be obsessed with or love money but you have to figure out to make a living how to make a living it's a direct command in the bible the next week we'll talk about specific ways to manage your living to manage your income and what the bible says about that we've got to balance these things in your life we touched on it a little bit tonight but we'll look at what the bible says we'll look at some bible study on it and we'll look at managing your income but the bottom line is this you have to get this figured out ladies start this now that's how you prepare for marriage how can you be frugal how can you be efficient I love that word how can you be efficient with your finances I mean could you have a home business I mean ladies can you do something everything's at home now everything's virtual you're saying I'm single I'm not married think of some ideas for a home business think about being a blessing to your husband especially starting off when you don't even have kids that would be a great way not just don't be a waster because if you're a waster now you're going into your marriage men and women if you're just this huge waster that just blows stupid money on stupid things I mean it doesn't matter how much you make in those cases because you'll always be broke and you'll always be in debt making a living we'll talk next week about budgeting your living let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer