"Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and turmoil with it. Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it". (Prov. 15: 16-17)
Wealth and Success are deceptive things. In themselves they are fleeting shadows that can quickly vanish. A man can possess all the riches of Croesus and have a war zone in his own house with a spouse who despises him. A man can possess the success of a king Midas and have his own children loathe the very ground on which he walks. What good does he then really possess? The world may judge him a success and extol his virtues. God would judge him an abject failure.
True wealth is found only in knowing Jesus Christ and honoring Him. A home and marriage that is centered around Him brings a taste of heaven on earth. It is a safe haven from the self-seeking, self-centered, self-gratifying world around us. It becomes a place where one can find solace and comfort and refreshing of soul and spirit. It is a shelter from the howling winds of insanity and evil that sweep over a godless society. In the estimation of God, the man who possesses a holy fear of the Lord along with a fervent love for this same Divine Being and the wife and children that He has given him is far better off than he who has amassed this world's riches or its accolades.
Our Lord Jesus warns us of the folly of the man who spares no effort to further increase his wealth and seeming security at the expense of his own soul. His words are pregnant with meaning that we ignore at our own peril, both here and in the age to come:
"And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?' So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12: 19-21)
Let us learn then to see things in their true value and worth. Get an eternal perspective. Labor to possess the true riches that come from learning Christ. Spare no effort to grasp more fully the wealth that all of God's children possess because of that which is laid up for them in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul the apostle called them "the unfathomable riches of Christ"(Eph 3:8). They are fathomless; there is no measuring device of man that could ever reach their bottom, plumb their depths or exhaust them.
Who can tell the blessedness of having one's sins removed as far as the east is from the west? Tell me, what value can be placed on a clear conscience? Can you weigh out the price of having peace with God and being called His friend? What would you give in exchange for your election by God? Would you trade your earthly inheritance for the heavenly one that awaits you? Child of God, all this and far more is your birthright in Christ Jesus. The Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth has adopted you in Christ and calls you His own. What an honor that He has bestowed on such unworthy worms of the earth as we. How we should gaze in wonder and awe and marvel at Him who has freely given this "so great salvation" to us!
If earthly wealth and success attend our labors in this earth, so be it. One should thank God for His mercy and goodness and then live for His glory by not heaping all upon his own lusts. But remember there is no guarantee in Scripture that wealth or success will accompany all of God's dear saints. While He has pledged His own faithfulness in providing for them, He has never pledged to make them wealthy in this world's goods. More often than not the lot of God's people has been one of persecution and rejection by the society in which they live. Always bear uppermost in your mind, that to be rich in faith is far greater wealth than anything the world can offer. When all is said and done and we lie cold in our graves in the earth, little comfort will earthly riches do for us then. Then faith in Christ will be seen in in its true value and worth. It is the tragedy of mankind that so very many never learn this lesson until it is too late.
It has been well said by one, never on his deathbed have these words been uttered from the lips of any man:
"If only I would have spent more time at the office so I could have made more money" .
Let us then draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation. Let us give heed to the words of Isaiah:
"Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 'Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live…'".
Love In Christ Jesus,
Dan
Copyright © 1999 Sovereign Grace Bible Church