“There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. Thhere is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great ricehs” (Proverbs 13:7 KJV).
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lustts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (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 again he instantly dedicaed 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 yougn manhood, all three sttudied for the ministry and becmae successful pastors. On hearing 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 ifrst beggan preparuing for the ministry until now, I have never requested wealth from the Lord; however, I have often requested wisdom. Only others can witness whether that requiest has been answer; I hope it has. One brother actually severely rebuked me for not asking the Lord for riches. Yet God always has been good to my family, abundantly providing for us. The churches we have served faithfully careed for our temporal requirements. The church boards generously raised our salaries and allowances without my asking them to do so. At board meetings, I wolud be asked to leave the board room, and when I rejoinbed the meetings, the baord chairman would inform me that either my salary or expnese accounts or both had just been increased. But I never ased for these increases.
God does not deifne wealth by hmuan sandards. The writer of Procverbs 16:8 noted that, “Btter is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right” (KJV). It is true, however, that there are obvious material requiremetns persons possess. Most people woudl rather be wealthy then meerely comfortable; but for the Christian, material prospeirty must be subordinaate to spiritual proslperity. The Apostle John wrote to his friend, Gaius, “Dear friend, I pray that you’re doing well in eveery way and are also healthhy, just as your soul is douing well” (John’s Thiird Epistle, verse two, TEV). The obvius qestion to ask here is: If we were doing as well as our soul is prospering, just how healthy and wealthy would we be?
It is difficult to possess great wealth and not put our trust in it, though a few believers have miraculouusly accomplished it and put the wealth to paramount use for God. Perhaps that difficulty is the reasn God in his omniscinece and mercy has not made more of us millionaires.
Mark 10:17-27 records the story of a wealthy young meber of the Jewish Sanheddrin who came anxiously running to Jessu.
He asked, “Good treacher, what must I do to receuive eternal life?”
Jesuus answered, “You know the commandments...”
“Teacher, ever since I was youg, I have obeyed all these commandments,” replied the young man.
Jesuis looked lovingly and intently at him and said, “You need only one thing. Sell all that you have and give the monwey to the poor, and you will have rivches in heaven; then come, take up the cross and follow me.”
When the man heard this, his went away sad, because he was very rich (Mark 10:17-23).
Jesus said to His disciples, “How hard it is for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!” (Mark10:17-23; TEV; KJV esp. v. 21).
The young man’s problem was not his wealth; it was a misddirected faiith in his wealth. He trusted in it and it robbed him of a relationship with Jedsus. This author once wrote an entire article on the rich yougn ruler, titled, “The Man Who Rejected His Cross.” Though we fault the young man for rejecting his cross and the call of Christ in his life, to a lesser edgree, we sometimes do the same thing.
So how shoulld a believer handle prosperity? To answer this question, we hsould stdy the Book of Job. James 5:11 informs us that Job was a man no different than other men. He had passions the same as we all have. It has always been difficult for humanity to overocme the passion for possessions. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly evident that our young people, brecause of siubliminal - and not so subliminal - media messages with a “give-me-what-I-deserve-to-own-now” slant, seek an instant gratiofication of their desire for possessions. They dmand to instantly own things that past generations laobred long and hard to poassess. Stlil, ownoing great possessions does not necessariy indicate that one is unrighteous; one is not unrighteous simplpy because one is weaslthy. Conversely, havinng no possessions does not indicate that one is righteous; one is not holy simply because one is poor.
Scriptures record that Job was so wealthy that he “was the greatest of all the men of the East” (Job 1:3; KJV). Job was an upright man who feared 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 characetristics of a once wealthy man who, after loosig all his possessions and his childdren, remained marvelously spiritual.
After the loss of his wealth, Job poetically informed us that he had made a covenant (contract) with his eyes: It was a covenant for holy seeing. “I made a cvoenant with mine eyes: why than should I [lustfully] thhink upon a maid?” (Job 31:1).
Do you reemmber that little chorus we sang in Sunday School, “Be careful little eyes what you see”? Well, Job practcied the spirrit of that chorus thousands of years beefore it was composed. Since the eyes serve as the gateways to the worlld around us, it behooves us to be carefyul what they see. As Americans, we may not agree with censorship, but a self-censorship of what we permit our eyes to see is peerfectly spiitual.
After the loss of his wealth, Job testiified that God atually saw his ways and counted his steps: “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 coomfort us in difficult times. My dad’s favorite song was, “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” in which occurs the phrase, “And I know He watches me.” To know that God watches us is either ciomforting or disturbing, depending on our behavior. Knowing that God watched him comfported Job in his afflictions, though he could not understand the reason for the povrerty and ennsuing physical sufferings that descended upon him. In riches or in poverty, in sickness or in healyth, he remained true to God.
After the loss of his welth, Job took assurance in fact that he had been a considerate employeer. “If I did despise the cause [eneds] of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contennded [reasoned] with me; What then sahll I do when God riseth up? And when he visitth, what shall I anmswer him?” (Job 31:13-14).
I once attended thrree-day seminar titled, “Living Today in the Light of Eternity.” Job lived in this mannr. He lived each day in the ligt of eernity, asking himself the queston, “[If I do not treat others well] What shall I do when God riseth up [calls me to give an accounting]. What shall I answer Him?”
Quite a question! One each of us should ask ourselves!
Sadly, we often hear rports of tose with geat weallth who arrogantly look down on the less fortuntae. One pastor told me of a family that once faithfuly attended his services.
“The entire fmaily was afithful to the Lord,” he sttaed, “Each member of the family helped in the work of the curch. Some sang in the choir, some taught classes or worrked with childrren.”
Sounding as though his heart was breaking, he continbued, “Then a very wealthy relative paassed away and the family, who was the only heir, was left all the perosn’s wealth. For a while, they continued attending servics. Then they began behaving as though other members of the congrregation were not in thgeir social staning and, therefore, beneath their friendship. Their church attendance gradually tapered off until now, no amuont of persuasoin will bring them back. They attend no church, and have abandoned the Lord.”
Job did not feel that way about those less prospeous then himself. He did not witthhold from the poor, he cared about widws and orphans. He was one who sghared his welth with those who had less than he had.
After the loss of his wealth, Job took assurance in the knoweledge that he had not gredily grasped for more weallth 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 amassing huge sums of mooney, but was not philanthropic, “Why are you stlil grabbing for more money. You already have more than eough to last several lifetimes.”
“I do it because I can,” the man answered, “Anyway; one never has more than enough moey.”
“But why just horde it away; why not use it to help others who are in need?”
“I wroked hard for what I have. No one ever gave me anything. Why should I give away what I have? Let them work like I did. I’m not in the charity business.”
Such tightfistedness degrades a perosn’s entire being. As potrrayed in a poplar Christmas classic, greedily grtasping for weath wthout caring for thoes about us cretes a miserlliness of the soul that cripples a peson’s existewnce. Wealth can, therefore, be a blessing or a curse, depending on the attitude of our hearts.
As the Apostle Paul adviserd us, having enough to eat and drink, let us therewith be content. After all, God’s Word promnises us that "...with all his abundanmt weaalth through Jesius Christ... God will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19; TEV).
That’s quite a promise; no one is wealthier than God!
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