Let's Make A Deal

What’s In Your Wallet?

Part 1 – Let’s Make A Deal

What’s in your wallet? A wallet is more than just an accessory or fashion statement. In reality I believe that if you examine a wallet carefully you can discover what is most important to a person. We tend to put our most valuable things in our wallet. That is what we are going to examine over the next three weeks. We are going to use our wallets to put a microscope on the two most important things in our lives.

So as promised, let’s look at my wallet. Now I have some miscellaneous items in my wallet that aren’t really going to be the focus of our discussion. For instance I have some business cards, a tip calculator, and of course my list of the Louis Lamour books I have read. I know you didn’t know your pastor was a red neck. But when you weed through the miscellaneous items you basically find that on the left side of my wallet I carry cash. Not much of it mind you, but what I do have is on the left side. On the right side of my wallet I carry my credit cards and my pictures. The funny thing about my pictures is how they have changed over the years. It used to be that I had pictures of all my friends from school. Now all my pictures revolved around two little boys and one particular woman.

Hey this kind of reminds me of something when I was growing up. Come on everybody get your wallet out. I know I am getting ready to show my age, (yes I am a product of the 80’s) but do any of you remember the game show Let’s Make a Deal? Do you remember the premise? People would dress up in crazy and flamboyant outfits and try to get Monty Hall to notice them. Then he would ask people in the audience to find a particular item in their wallet or purse and if they had the item they would win cash and or trade that cash on a chance to find out what was behind door #1, door #2, or door #3. Often they would give up $500 or $600 for a goat or a wheelbarrow full of dirt.

Let’s give it a shot. I have $10 for the first person that can bring me a picture out of your wallet of you and your pet. I have $10 for the first person that can bring me a coupon for a pizza place out of your wallet. I have $10 for the first person that can bring me a picture of you from your wallet with a mullet.

Our wallets contain our lives. If you wanted to, you could take my wallet and probably yours and categorize all the main items contained there in two ways: Family and Finances. This morning I want to work backwards a little. Normally you discuss specifics and then you summarize. However, if you will allow me I would like to begin this series by summarizing everything we are going to talk about during this series and then over the next couple of weeks we will get real specific in those two areas.

Text: Exodus 8:20, 25-28; 10:8-11, 24-26

20GOD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes down to the water. Tell him, ‘GOD’s Message: Release my people so they can worship me. 25Pharaoh called in Moses and Aaron and said, “Go ahead. Sacrifice to your God—but do it here in this country.” 26Moses said, “That would not be wise. What we sacrifice to our GOD would give great offense to Egyptians. If we openly sacrifice what is so deeply offensive to Egyptians, they’ll kill us. 27Let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to our GOD, just as he instructed us.” 28Pharaoh said, “All right. I’ll release you to go and sacrifice to your GOD in the wilderness. Only don’t go too far. Now pray for me.”

8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. He said to them, “Go ahead then. Go worship your GOD. But just who exactly is going with you?” 9Moses said, “We’re taking young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds—this is our worship-celebration of GOD.” 10He said, “I’d sooner send you off with GOD’s blessings than let you go with your children. Look, you’re up to no good—it’s written all over your faces. 11Nothing doing. Just the men are going—go ahead and worship GOD. That’s what you want so badly.” And they were thrown out of Pharaoh’s presence.

24Pharaoh called in Moses: “Go and worship GOD. Leave your flocks and herds behind. But go ahead and take your children.” 25But Moses said, “You have to let us take our sacrificial animals and offerings with us so we can sacrifice them in worship to our GOD. 26Our livestock has to go with us with not a hoof left behind; they are part of the worship of our GOD. And we don’t know just what will be needed until we get there.”