Wealth is something that is fully and completely misconstrued in our society today. There is the general thought that wealth is related to what you have in the bank or what monetary items you can display. There is very little thought to the wealth of biblical design.
“3He who loves wisdom makes his father glad,
but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.”
— Proverbs 29:3 (ESV)
This morning I am reading another verse that iterates that which makes a father glad, wisdom. And as I look at this verse, I find myself looking to the last word, wealth. I am thinking of just what is wealth to look like for me as a follower of Christ. Is it what I have the capacity to purchase or how much I have in the bank or what others can see as I display the monetary value of things I have? And then I look at the first part of the verse and see the riches that I should be counting on, wisdom. Solomon, who was extremely monetarily rich, knew that all of that would not last, and as so, asked God to make him wealthy in wisdom.
I have to look at the same approach as Solomon and know that all the money in the world will not last. It can and will be squandered on foolish things. When we look to our monetary wealth as the measure of our success, we are brought to the place of superficial value in the world. Think about what one can do with all the money they have. They have the ability to buy things for people and provide things for people and prop themselves up with all they can give to others. But, what about when the money is gone, what is their station in life then. When that which provided your value, money, dries up, then the prevailing consequence is that one is now forgotten as there is nothing more for them to give to others.
I have read and heard of too many instances where those who acquired great monetary wealth were found to be destitute sometime later as they squandered all of the wealth and do not know how they will provide going forward without that wealth.
Then we have those who have built their wealth on the intrinsic, like knowledge and wisdom. For these never want for anything and are always contributing something. These are those who may not have all the monetary wealth in the world, yet somehow they are always found giving to others. And in those contributions, there is no fanfare or spotlight on them as they give, yet those who receive are better off than they would have been with an extra $20.
This is where the true wealth is found. God provides and blesses. It is from those blessings that we are able to impact. We look to often at what we want instead of what we need and confuse the two. The needs are the provision and the wants are the blessings. When I am seeking for provision of wisdom I am rich with all I need and then when God blesses me with more, I am able to provide as opposed to squandering it all on me.
What is your idea of riches? Are you looking to have all that you want and that will somehow make you better off? What if you were to see your wisdom as the provision that makes you rich and God’s blessings as that which you can share with others?
Trevor's Thoughts 