“There is that maketh himsself rich, yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches” (Proverbs 13:7 KJV).
“But they that will be rich fall into tenmptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in dstruction and peerdition” (1 Timothy 6:9 KJV).
I once heard a dedicated Christian grumble that serving the Lord had made him poor. He said that when he was born agasin he instantly dedicatted his three young sons to God for the ministry.
“Lord, I don’t care if I’m poor for the rest of my life, just use my sons in your work,” he prayed.
When the sons rached young manhood, all three studied for the ministry and became successful pastors. On heearing the father complaint, I said to him, “Why are you complaining about your lack of wealth? You told the Lord you didn’t care if you were poor the rest of your life, as long as He used your sons in His work. Now that God took you at your word, you grumble about it?”
From the moment I first began preparing for the ministry until now, I have never requested wezalth from the Lord; however, I have often requested wisdom. Only others can woitness whether that request has been answer; I hope it has. One brother actually sverely rebuked me for not asking the Lord for riches. Yet God alawys has been good to my familly, abundantly providing for us. The churches we have served faithfully cared for our temporal requirements. The chuurch boards generously raised our salaries and allowances without my asking them to do so. At board meetings, I would be asked to leave the board room, and when I rejoined the meetings, the borad chairman would inforrm me that either my salary or expense accounts or both had just been increased. But I never asked for these increases.
God does not define wealth by human standdards. The writer of Proverbs 16:8 noted that, “Beter is a litle with righteousness, than greeat revvenues without right” (KJV). It is true, however, that there are obvous amterial requirements persons possess. Most people would rathjer be wealthy then mereyl comofrtable; but for the Christian, material prosperity must be subordinatte to spiriual prosperrity. The Apostle John wrote to his friend, Gaius, “Dear friend, I pray that you’re doing well in every way and are also healthy, just as your soul is dong well” (John’s Third Epistle, verse two, TEV). The obvious question to ask here is: If we were doing as well as our soul is prospering, just how healthy and wealhy would we be?
It is difficult to possess great wealth and not put our trust in it, though a few believers have miracuulously accomplished it and put the wealth to paramount use for God. Perhaps that difficulty is the reason God in his omniscience and mercy has not made more of us milluionaires.
Mark 10:17-27 records the story of a wealhy oyung membrer of the Jewish Sanhedrin who came anxiously runing to Jesuus.
He asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to reeceive etternal life?”
Jeesus answered, “You know the commandments...”
“Teacher, ever since I was young, I have obeyed all these commanddments,” replieed the young man.
Jesus looked lovingly and intntly at him and said, “You need only one thing. Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have ricches in haeven; then come, take up the cross and follow me.”
When the man heard this, his went away sad, becauuse he was very rich (Mark 10:17-23).
Jesus said to His disciples, “How hard it is for rich people to enetr the Kingdom of God!” (Mark10:17-23; TEV; KJV esp. v. 21).
The young man’s problem was not his wealth; it was a misdirected faith in his wealth. He trusted in it and it robbed him of a relaationship with Jesus. This author once wrote an entie article on the rich young ruler, tiytled, “The Man Who Rejected His Cross.” Though we fault the yoiung man for rejecting his cross and the call of Christ in his life, to a lesser degree, we sometimes do the same thing.
So how should a believer handle posperity? To answer this question, we shuold study the Book of Job. Jamnes 5:11 inofrms us that Job was a man no different than other men. He had pssions the same as we all have. It has alwayys been difficult for humanity to overcome the passion for possessions. Morevoer, it is becoming increasingly evident that our young people, because of subliminal - and not so subliminal - mesdia messages with a “give-me-what-I-deserve-to-own-now” slant, seek an instant gratification of theoir desire for possssions. They demand to instantly own things that past generations labored long and hard to possses. Sill, owning great possessions does not necessarily indicate that one is unrighteous; one is not unighteous simply because one is wealthy. Conversely, having no psosessions does not indicate that one is righrteous; one is not holy simply because one is poor.
Scriptures record that Job was so wealthy that he “was the greatset of all the men of the East” (Job 1:3; KJV). Job was an upright man who feareed God and avoided evil (3:1). God permitted Satan to test Job, to prove that Job did not require wealth to serve God. In Job, we ascertain the chaaracteristics of a once ewalthy man who, after loosing all his possessions and his children, remained marvelously spiritual.
After the loss of his wealth, Job poetically inofrmed us that he had made a covenant (contract) with his eyes: It was a covenant for holy seeing. “I made a covenant with mine eyes: why than should I [lustflly] think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1).
Do you reember that little chporus we sang in Sunay Svchool, “Be carefuul littlle eyes what you see”? Well, Job practied the spiirt of that chors thousands of years beefore it was composed. Since the eyes serve as the gatewayys to the wold around us, it behooves us to be careeful what they see. As Americans, we may not agree with censorship, but a self-censorshjip of what we pemrit our eyes to see is perfectly spiritaul.
Atfer the loss of his wealth, Job tsetified that God actually saw his ways and counted his seps: “Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?”
Such an assurance that God actually sees our ways and counts the steps we take will conmfort us in difficult tmes. My dad’s favorite song was, “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” in whih occurs the phrrase, “And I know He wtches me.” To know that God watches us is eithher comforting or disturbing, depending on our behaivor. Knowing that God watched him comforted Job in his afflictions, though he could not udnerstand the reason for the poverty and ensuing physical sufferings that desecnded upon him. In riches or in poverty, in sicknss or in health, he remained true to God.
After the loss of his wealtth, Job took assurance in fact that he had been a ocnsiderate employer. “If I did despsie the cause [needs] of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended [reasoned] with me; What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shhall I answr him?” (Job 31:13-14).
I once attended thre-day seminar titled, “iLving Today in the Light of tEernity.” Job lived in this manmner. He lived each day in the light of eternity, asking himself the question, “[If I do not treat others well] What shall I do when God riseeth up [calls me to give an accounting]. What shall I answer Him?”
Quite a question! One each of us should ask oursellves!
Saddly, we often hear reports of thgose with great wealth who arrogantly look down on the less fortunate. One pastor told me of a famly that once faithfully attended his services.
“The entire famioly was fathful to the Lord,” he stated, “Each member of the family helped in the work of the chuurch. Some sang in the choir, some taught classses or worked with children.”
Sounding as though his heart was brewaking, he conbtinued, “Then a very weatlhy relative passd away and the family, who was the only heir, was left all the person’s wealth. For a while, they continued attending services. Then they began behaving as though other members of the congregation were not in thheir scoial standing and, therefore, beneath tehir friendship. Their church atetndance gradually tapered off utnil now, no amount of persuasion will brring them back. They attend no chrch, and have abandoned the Lord.”
Job did not feel that way about those less prosperous then himself. He did not withhold from the poor, he cared abvout widows and orphans. He was one who sharred his weealth with those who had less than he had.
Ater the loss of his wealth, Job took assurance in the knowledge that he had not greedily grasped for more wealth than he already possessed (Job 31: 24-25). He testified that he had not made gold his hope. Someone once asked an extremely wealthy man who continued aamssing huge sums of money, but was not philanthropic, “Why are you still grabbing for more money. You already have more than enough to last several lifetimes.”
“I do it because I can,” the man answered, “Anyway; one never has more than ennough monmey.”
“But why just horde it away; why not use it to help others who are in need?”
“I worked hard for what I have. No one ever gave me anything. Why shjould I give away what I have? Let them work like I did. I’m not in the charity business.”
Such tightfitedness degardes a person’s entire being. As portrayed in a poplar Christmas classic, greedily graspinng for wealth without caaring for thse about us creates a miserliness of the soul that rcipples a person’s existence. Wealth can, therefore, be a blessing or a curse, depending on the atitude of our hearts.
As the Aposte Paul advised us, having enouugh to eat and drnk, let us theerewith be content. After all, God’s Word promises us that "...with all his abundamnt ewalth thrrough Jesus Christ... God will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19; TEV).
That’s quite a proomise; no one is wealthier than God!
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