Will I Backslide From Financial Discipline?

And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death? Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.

(Deu 31:24-29)

When I paid off my worldly debts on July 2, 2021, and for several months after, the only thing I could think of that was appropriate to do was to celebrate.  Yet, in the back of my mind, I knew that one day, I will get used to this new freedom, and possibly take it for granted.  Time and time again, whenever I had a big financial decision to make, I have tried to remind myself of all that I fought for, in order to stay out of debt.  

Still, I can feel the joy of being a free man slipping away quickly.  I've even started to consider options for another vehicle should my current one, the 2016 Ford Fiesta, breaks down to the point where it's rational to just finance another vehicle.  This is sinful anxiety (Matthew 6:34), and I need to repent of it.  On this, and other events which would greatly test my faith, I had to repeat the chorus of the song "One Day At A Time" by Christy Lane to myself:

One day at a time, sweet Jesus
That's all I'm asking from You
Lord, give me the strength to do everyday what I have to do

Yesterday's gone, sweet Jesus
And tomorrow may never be mine
Lord, help me today, show me the way, one day at a time

Ms. Lane speaks the very essence of Matthew 6:34:

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

There is a secular quote, which is also true in this circumstance.  It is disputed as to who first spoke it, but it goes like this:

Eternal diligence is the price of liberty.

To this I say, "Amen".

Here is a Scripture which speaks to me:

1Pe 2:16  As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 

This is the war I am waging in my heart.  Perhaps it is a good fight (I Timothy 6:12, Jude 1:3).  May God help me in this.