“God sometimes blesses the righteous with great riches, as he did Abraham; or, however, if they have but little, it is better than the riches of many wicked; because they have what they have with a blessing, and they are content with it: and they have abundance of spiritual treasure; they have God for their portion; Christ, and all good things along with him; the rich graces of the Spirit; a rich experience of the grace of God; and all this is but a pledge and earnest of what they shall possess hereafter;
but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble; they have much trouble in getting their riches, by which they pierce themselves through with many sorrows; they have much trouble in keeping them; cannot rest nor sleep because of their abundance, lest it should be taken away from them; and they have much trouble in parting with them, when they are, by one providence or another, stripped of them; and, besides, they have them with a curse, and are ever attended with uneasiness, on one account or another.” – Gill’s Exposition
I found this blog that was cheeky enough to share with you – loved the attitude and hope that it will practical enough too.
http://digrowth.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/proverbs-156/
My skeptic friends think this is a contradiction.
Is wealth a sign of righteousness or wickedness?
I think that both of these readings I have opened with indicate that wealth is not the indicator at all – the indicator comes as to how we handle wealth – in other words – our attitude towards wealth.
John Gill suggests that the righteous can live with or without wealth whereas the wicked will do whatever it takes to keep it and our blog friend suggests that we try to move our wealth over from believing that it belongs to us to understanding that it belongs to God and He is sharing it with us.
Of course, my skeptic friends ask – who is righteous? Love when they say that because they are actually quoting Jesus in the parable of the rich young ruler and think they are cute when they do that – but the open door to explain the plan of salvation and our journey towards being holy is always a favourite path to engage a conversation on – so keep on asking the question.
Related articles
- Treasure Trove of Joy (godspeaking.wordpress.com)
In all they do, they prosper 