Posted on 04/15/2021 11:30:59 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right” (Proverbs 16:8).
This is not saying that when a man is righteous, he is never going to have much, that is certainly not true in America. We live in a country where God not only blesses physically but also financially. Compared to other countries, there are no impoverished people here—in fact, everyone is quite wealthy. But it is better to have little with righteousness, than to have much without righteousness. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:21). Stuff won’t bring you peace, in fact, it’ll bring your more unrest because now you have to worry about all the stuff. In John 3, the Bible says that the “wrath of God abideth on him,” present tense, when they have not the righteousness of Christ.
Paul didn’t have a lot, but he was right with God and God used him. The Apostles had very little, but they were right with God, and God used them right up until their martyrdom. John had little, but he had a lot in his post-resurrection fellowship with Jesus Christ Himself there on the Isle of Patmos.
The rich man in Luke 16 had a whole lot, but it didn’t do him any good in prison where he couldn’t even find a drop of water to cool his tongue. The rich young rule had much, but he never got saved. The rich farmer in Luke 12 lost it all.
Money can do abominable things-people, that is, can do abominable things with it. It enslaves human beings, tortures them, drives them insane, kills them. Money can become the meanest of gods.
It has been said that where money blesses hundreds, it brings blight and ruin to thousands. The apostle Paul lamented those who taught untruth for paychecks (Titus 1:11). Those who “serve” the Lord for $100,000 a year would probably serve the Devil for $200,000.
John Wesley, through whose hands passed fortunes, said, “When I have money, l get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.”
The chief warnings of the Word regarding wealth may be summed up briefly. It can deceive (Matthew 13:22); bring personal ruin (Proverbs 11:28); cause trouble (Proverbs 15:16); vanish (Proverbs 23:4, S); have no eternal value (Proverbs 27-24); do no good at the judgment and be a roadblock to God's kingdom (Luke 18:24).
Wealth can do wonders in the hands of those like the long-ago king who prayed (I Chronicles 29:11, 12, 14, 17).
What tests men's goodness or badness more than the possession of money. At this point is focused the whole problem of wealth. Everything is God's. He lets us have some of it. How much do we give back to Him? The answer to that question shows who we are and to whom we belong.
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