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Foreign. Good morning, Sower Nation. It's Tuesday, January 13th, in the year of our Lord 2026. And it being Tuesday, you know what that means? Tacos. Let me tell you what I've been doing this week. Yesterday, today and tomorrow. I'm doing the audible recordings for the Exodus book. You remember the Exodus series we did here on the Wake Up Call some time ago and. Well, Harper Collins Zondervan has picked that book up and they're going to be. Well, they've turned it into a book and now we're doing the audio recordings of it and it'll be coming out later this spring. Yeah, I think I put something on the Facebook group the other day about a pre order. Anyway, be praying for me. Those are long, they're difficult. I mean, you're sitting there reading for seven, eight, nine hours a day. And I've had a lot of practice and I've gotten pretty good at it, but you just never know. And I'm praying that, that that book will, will be deliverance to many people. That's what I called it, I think. Deliverance. The way. The way from wasteland to Graceland. And we work our way through the whole book. So that's, that's what's happening for me this week. And we're pressing right on through with Proverbs. And of course we're having tacos today. We're going to figure it out. Not sure how we're going to get them or where, but we're going for tacos today. It's Tuesday. Now, are you ready for consecration? Because I am. Wake up, sleeper. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you. And we're praying in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Well, our entry today is entitled the Smallest Biggest Truth About Money. And we're reading Proverbs 13 today. The chapter, the whole chapter, we're focusing in on one verse, verse 11 here. Now the word of the Lord. Dishonest money dwindles away. But whoever gathers money, little by little makes it grow. The Word of the Lord. Now consider this. Growing up, I was of two minds when it came to money. On the one hand, I hustled. Every summer my cousin Lee and I farmed a profitable watermelon and cantaloupe truck patch and pedaled them all over the Tri county area, I was the proprietor of a small, profitable pig farm. Every day after school, I scrounged around behind the Piggly Wiggly for scraps of produce and anything else they threw away that pigs might eat. And beyond that, I worked countless hours in the summer at agonizing manual labor jobs on the farm. For a measly $3 an hour, I saved every penny from all of those endeavors. On the other hand, I was an aspiring hustler in another way. I handicapped horse races and went to the race track every chance I got. I regularly sat in on quarter ante poker games with friends. I hustled other kids on the golf course when I could. I loved to bet on football games and had there been a lottery in those days, I would have been a sucker for it. On the one hand, I worked really hard for every dime I earned. On the other hand, I was constantly lured by the promise of easy money of something for nothing. Two common wisdom sayings compete at just this point. On the one hand, it's easy come, easy go, and on the other, it's a penny saved is a penny earned. Isn't that exactly what today's proverb says? Dishonest money dwindles away. But whoever whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow. I remember one day on the farm doing some back breaking job in 100 degree heat. In response to my grumbling and groaning about this work not being worth it, my dad said something to me I have never forgotten. John David there's no such thing as easy money. It took me a few more years to grasp this, but he was exactly right. To a greater or lesser degree. This battle wages in all of us. We all want a fail safe scheme to make easy money. Anyone who's ever bought into a multi level marketing program likely got in because someone convinced them that it was easy money. Every one of them quickly learned if they were going to make any money, it would take far more labor than their recruiter represented. Repeat after me those words my dad said to me. There is no such thing as easy money. Today's proverb gives us three words that capture a fail safe alternative. Did you see them? Go back and look dishonest. Money dwindles away. But whoever whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow. For years now, I have marveled at my mother's simple practice of saving loose change. A few years back she started adding dollar bills to the collection. She's not doing it from a scarcity mentality. She's an abundance person. Of all the people I know, these Currency collections have become something of a minor hedge fund she draws from to help people in need. Face it, you are not going to win the lottery, so stop buying tickets. There is no such thing as easy money. And those three wise little words, little by little, it's the smallest, biggest truth about money. Let's pray. Our Father, thank you for saying so much in your word about money and using it to reveal our own broken nature. I want your truth to be my wisdom and not just another proverb on the page. Teach me the grace of little by little. Even more, lead me away from the temptation of treasuring money. You are my treasure. I pray in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen. Our journal prompts today. So why do people buy lottery tickets? Do we really believe there's no such thing as easy money? Why do we believe that or why not? And then am I practicing the wisdom of little by little? Am I always on the hunt for a get rich quick scheme? How might I become more of a little by little kind of person? Where in my life right now could that become actionable?
