day 371: Direct Deposit

Back in the 1990’s direct deposit was introduced. At the time few people wanted (or trusted) a company to deposit their paychecks directly into their personal bank account. I can even remember running contests to incentivize people to make the change. We had gotten so used to receiving that weekly, bi-weekly or monthly paycheck handed to us by our boss or one of the administrative staff that we didn’t want to have it any other way. One thing that I think was lost with this change was the personal touch of having another human being hand us our paychecks. When it was our boss and with the envelope came a, “Well done” or “Good job”, an extra meaning was added onto the dollars and cents. A few years ago I had a manager in a company who had gotten so out of the habit of having much at all contact with the people in his department that when bonus time came around he allowed the bonus checks deposit slips to just be put in the employee’s mail slots with no words of thanks included. He was the same manager who came to me and asked where his bonus check was and I said, “It was direct deposited to your account and the stub was mailed to you”. He said to me something of the sort, “I wanted that check today and I wanted to hear what amount I got, etc”, I let him know that he should have done the same for his employees and he could have had that conversation. He got the message. We all work hard and we all want to know what the rewards of our work are and more importantly we want those extra words that make the money that much more fulfilling. As believers, we are still human and we want that too, but we also should remember that all that we receive comes from our God who we are working to achieve His purpose in our jobs. In Deuteronomy 8:17-18 Moses tells the Israelites that it is very easy for us to forget where our resources come from. He tells the Israelites that God put them through many tests and many days of challenge so that they would know definitively from whom their blessings flow. We read; “He did it sp you would never think that it was your own strength and energy that made you wealthy. Always remember that is the Lord your God, who gives you the power to become rich, and he does it to fulfill the covenant he made with your ancestors.” It’s easy for us to forget where our direct deposit comes from. Today, remember that what we have is only because of Him.

Reference: Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (New Living Testament)