Today I don’t have any words of wisdom of my own to share. Thought I’d share some of my favorite wisdom from the book of Proverbs:
“Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much
and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.”
(Proverbs 30:7-9)
Have a great day!
For a while I’ve joked about Publishers Clearinghouse being my retirement plan. It was a joke, yet I daydreamed at times about what I would do if I actually won a bunch of money.
Then I realized the other day that coming into a bunch of money wouldn’t do me well spiritually. I need that uncertainty about tomorrow, that unsureness about just how everything will get taken care of. It builds my dependence on God, keeps me from thinking that I can do it all myself. I’m not saying that that’s true for everyone, but I’ve found it to be true for me. Throughout my adult life, I’ve gone through times where I didn’t know where the money would come from… and it came. I’ve also gone through some times when I thought, “OK, we’ve finally saved up some money.” And something has come along to wipe out that amount.
It takes me a while, but hopefully I’m learning the lesson. I’ve prayed the prayer from Proverbs that God would let me be neither rich nor poor. And he has faithfully answered that prayer. Now it’s up to me to continue to trust in him.
(Photo by Miroslav Sárička, www.sxc.hu)
I still remember the blasting caps poster. It was second or third grade, and there was a poster on our classroom wall warning us of the dangers of blasting caps. For months my blasting cap awareness was heightened. Every day as I walked home from school, I would look for blasting caps, not wanting to unwittingly expose myself to the danger.
I wonder now why I’ve never seen a similar poster, but with money on it. Maybe I should ask why I’ve never made such a poster. Think about some of the things that the Bible says about money:
“And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
(Matt. 19:23-26)
Having riches can make it harder for me to enter the kingdom of God. It can create an additional hurdle for me and for my family.
“And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
(Mark 4:18-19)
Riches deceive and choke out faith. Yes, I know there are exceptions to that, as there are to most rules, yet our Lord himself warned us about the deceitfulness of riches and their effect on our lives. I can’t help but think our desire to find exceptions is part of the deceitfulness!
“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
(1Tim. 6:6-10)
Those who want to get rich fall into temptation. Paul says it pretty straight. Riches are a dangerous trap, a mortal one.
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(Heb. 13:5)
Looking to money means looking away from God. God has promised not to forsake us. When we spend all of time focused on accumulating for ourselves, we are doubting his promises.
“Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”
(Prov. 30:8-9)
I love this prayer. “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” May I learn to pray the same in my own life.
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
(Luke 16:13-15)
The Pharisees scoffed, just as part of me scoffs. Trust in God. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Inside, part of me says, “Yeah, right.” Then Jesus’ words ring in my ears: “What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” In other words, if I’m doing the things that the world would say, “Yes, that’s a good plan. That’s good common sense,” I’m probably doing something that God doesn’t like. When I seek home ownership, college education for my kids, financial security for retirement, am I going after the things the world exalts? Am I going after things that God detests?
Am I playing with a new kind of blasting caps? Maybe somebody should make me a poster.
It sure plays in Peoria. “God wants you to be happy.” “God wants you to prosper.” “Name the blessing and it will be yours.” We can point to the Joel Osteens of the world, but I’ve heard it from Church of Christ preachers as well. “God wants the good things of this world to go to His children.” Preach that message and pack them in. From sea to shining sea.
I know some other words that don’t seem to preach as well:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”
(Luke 6:20-27; interestingly enough, my software Bible uses red letters for Jesus’ words… but this section isn’t in red!) [And why do they red letter Jesus’ words but not God’s words… ok, that’s another topic]
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
(Luke 12:33-34)
“Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.””
(Luke 18:24-25)
“But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
(1Timothy 6:8-10)
God isn’t against rich people. He wants them to be saved. Some Christians will be rich. But none should seek it. We don’t need to preach “name it and claim it” nor the “prosperity gospel.” We need to warn our children of this trap, of this thing that can make it harder to get into heaven and easier to fall into temptation, that can deceive us and choke out our spiritual life (Mark 4:19).
For me, I want to echo the words of Agur son of Jakeh:
““Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
(Proverbs 30:7-9)
[By the way, I’m officially burying the “alternate” blog site. If you have trouble commenting, just drop me an e-mail at cordobatim@mac.com]