Rich, Yet Poor.
Could you be rich, and yet poor? I think so. As I did my morning devotion today, my attention was brought to this passage.
Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, do not forget my teaching but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong you life many years and bring you prosperity (NIV). The King James Version puts it this way: my son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add to thee.
Isn’t it an amazing gift to have more hours to your day, long life and to prosper? Recently, I’ve been reminded of the importance of having my morning devotion to connect with God. My previous idea of devotion is to spend 15 minutes max, read a few verses in the bible as my guide. I’ve found that Proverbs in the bible, believed to be written mostly by King Solomon, thought to be the wisest and riches man who ever lived, gives many insights to daily living. Early in the 2nd verse, it mentions “for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight. That’s why I read it.
As I mentioned above, I learned the importance of spending more time to listen to the quiet still voice and some times, I takes up to an hour or more to allow the mind to focus and cut out the clutter and wandering. I found that with the devotion, my days go better rather than just jumping in and getting started tackling the issues of the day. I found myself better prepared to handle the unexpected.
Back to Proverbs 3:1-2. To have more hours, long life, peace and prosperity. Isn’t that what most of us want. Yet many people rush about at a fast pace, eating unhealthy food, with lack of sleep with insufficient exercise, tired all the time and trying to cram in even more. No need for me to mention more.
Would it be possible to have millions of dollars and yet live without prosperity? Some have. In this day and age, I think over consumption rather than stinginess is more the problem. Yet in either extreme, it only shows the nature of the human heart and our attitude towards wealth and money. Both over consumption, and frugality to the degree of stinginess reveals a desire for security in physical things. Either extreme might bring money into our lives, but not prosper us.
I define over consumption, as in buying things you don’t need, with money you don’t have, to impress people you don’t like. We live in such times so no need for me to elaborate more. What about stinginess? An extreme example would be Hetty Green. Hetty Green inherited a small fortune for her father in 1835 and invested it to over $ 100 million by the time she died in 1916. Yet, when you read her story, you will wonder, what use is all that money if you have it and didn’t make use of it. On one occasion, her son Edward broke his leg, and Hetty preferred her son to be treated at home to save money. Later, the leg developed gangrene and had to be amputated and fitted with a cork prosthesis.
So while she had tons of money, her values had distorted her thinking and instead of enjoying the blessings, she hoarded all her money. The key here, do not forget God’s teachings and commandments, which among others includes using honest scales, helping the needy and tithing, yes giving away some of your money.
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