Importance Of Margin – Nehemiah 1
This is a series that appears on a regular basis here at JosephSangl.com – “Biblical Financial Lessons”
Nehemiah 1
While Nehemiah was in the city of Susa, his brother Hanani came into town from Judah. Nehemiah asked him how things were in Jerusalem, and the answer he heard absolutely wrecked him. Hanani responded, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
When Nehemiah heard of the terrible plight of Jerusalem, he was distraught and devastated. It is recorded that he said, “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.”
You see, Jerusalem had no wall which meant that they had no protection! In other words, they had no margin.
Think about it. If they grew crops or built something of value, their enemies could approach without anything blocking them. Without margin, the city of Jerusalem was in great trouble and disgrace.
There is a huge financial lesson to be learned from this story. Without financial margin, a person faces great trouble and disgrace! If you ever want to truly prosper, you MUST have margin. Margin offers protection against whatever life may throw at you.
If Satan can keep you broke, he can keep you ineffective.
Here are some fundamental truths:
- Life IS going to happen
- WITHOUT margin, you will face incredible challenges, stress, and anguish
- WITH margin, you will have a defense that allows you to remain focused on the mission and vision of your life
- It is easy to achieve BROKE. It requires focused effort to build and maintain financial margin.
- You CAN do this!
Just as we can learn from the book of Nehemiah, the first step toward establishing margin is to recognize that we don’t have it and that we need it!
Do YOU have financial margin?