David Miller: I’m going to cut my little spiel in half. This should be an eight point lesson on personal finances. We’re going to reduce it to four. Number one: work hard.

If I get around another Baptist staff person complaining because he had to work 41 hours last week, I’m going to jack his jaw up.

That just frustrates me; makes me red-headed. My mom and dad divorced when I was five years old. My mom had no job, no training. I went with her to the cotton fields, followed her up down the rows, worked hard. You’ve got a gravy train. You got a bird nest on the ground. You don’t even have to reach up. Work hard.

Where’d we ever get this notion, if we’d put in 40 hours a week, we could kick back and turn the switch off? Where’s that in the Bible? Six days shalt thou work and do all thy labor. My point is, work hard. Number two: honor God with your substance— tithes and offerings. Don’t talk to the people about it unless you’re doing it.

Number three: don’t buy everything you can buy on the credit. That’s a recipe for disaster. And don’t come up to me and say, “Well, I’ve got to build my credit.”

I learned years ago I had a lot more credit than I had capability to pay it back. And number four: don’t spend everything you make. Learn  the fine art of saving money. Start early. Be consistent. Don’t give up. Grit your teeth. Cringe if you must, but save some money. You know why? Because one of these days you will have been preaching and ministering for 54 years.

You, like myself, might be 73 years old. This is not my case, but there’s not a more pathetic thing than having to deal with a pastor and his wife who’ve come to the end of their ministry, and they can’t pay the electric bill. Are you listening? Are you really listening? Learn to invest for your future.

That’s biblical, and it’s doable. And so I want to tell you two simple things: learn the rule of 72. The rule of 72 is an accounting term. It will help you to see how much time it will take for your investment to double at any particular interest rate. You divide the number 72 by the interest rate. You have a pen and paper?

Write this down. Put 72— you remember how to divide? I’m going to make this easy for you. Where you’ve got $1,000 today and you’re going to invest it at 10%, how long will it take for that thousand dollars to become $2,000? Divide 72 by 10, and what do you have? 7.2. In 7.2 years, your investment will have doubled.

That’s the rule of 72. Now let me see how good you are at math.

What if you invested $2,000? Well, I better keep this simple. Just invest that same thousand dollars, but this time invest it at 20%. How long will it take for that thousand dollars to double? Say it out loud now, I can’t hear you. 3.6 years. Now. Here’s another term. It’s longevity.

If you will get started now, if you will invest at something that will pay you a good dividend over the last— pick out any period of 30 to 40 years in the last, 75 to a hundred years, and the stock market has produced 10%. It’s doable. Get with Guidestones. Get with some reputable people who can help you get started.

If you invest $100 a month and you average, receiving 10% interest on that, do the work. Look in your folder at the little model that I hand- wrote for you. It’ll help you to see. Would you like to have an extra $400,000 when you come to retirement? Anybody up for that? Get started seven years earlier or work seven years longer.

Do the math. Now, let’s suppose that from social security and other revenue streams, you have enough money to take care of you and your dear wife throughout your retirement days. Hallelujah. That’s a worthy goal. But what if you have a little extra?

Are you aware that it’s really good to be on the giving end of things?

There are few things that raise my ire more than a Baptist preacher with the handout syndrome.

You get my drift on that? Don’t be a moocher. Don’t be a taker. Don’t be a user. Don’t go around with your hand out. Work hard. Honor God with your substance. Quit buying so much stuff on the credit. And don’t spend all you make, and invest it. What would be wrong if when you come to the end of your days, if you were able to invest $100,000, $500,000, a million dollars in the kingdom of God? In missions?

Do you know why we’re able to have a conference like this? It costs 20 to $25,000 a year. You know how? Do you know how we’re able just to extend kindness and hospitality and generosity, it’s because some of the saints have been doing exactly what I was talking about, and now they’re in a position to give.

And you and I are the recipients of that. You know what I say? Praise the Lord. All right. That’s all.