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One Pretends to be Rich - Wisdom Wednesday
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Show Notes
One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. Proverbs 13:7
One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
We talk about money a lot on this podcast because if you mess up money in your twenties and especially in your 30’s, you’re gonna have really hard time later in life.
Money is your first line of responsibility as you become an adult, begin to pay for stuff, and to earn your own income. A lot of people in their 20’s blow everything they make because when you’re young, you make stupid choices.
I was one of those guys. I made stupid choices. I swear, God did not allow me to make more money than 30k until I learned some hard lessons. I’m partly kidding, and partly convinced that is true.
I used to pretend to be rich by eating out all the time. I used to pretend to be rich by buying nice gifts I couldn’t afford. Believe it or not, I used to have a great wardrobe. I had no money in my account but I was keeping H&M in business.
We could talk about this proverb today as pretend you are poor, live under a budget, live on less than you make, and you will get wealth - I think that is one thing this proverb is conveying.
But I also think this proverb is speaking to an attitude that is prevalent in the human heart: the deceitfulness of riches.
Those who appear rich are placing their trust in their image - they are anxious about what they should wear, eager to look like Solomon.
Other hoard all they have, placing their future security in the abundance. They have built bigger barns and said to their soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” Luke 12:19
It is the spirit of Scrooge.
Now before I go through this any further, you socialist leaning people who think I am saying the government should come in a redistribute wealth - nope. That is called stealing and its against the 7th commandment and against the 9th and 10th commandment (depending on how you count them) to not covet what your neighbor has.
No, what I am talking about is the human proclivity to serve mammon rather than God, no matter how much or how little we have in our savings account.
There are plenty of people who are wealthy and yet live so cheap they crowd out other areas of their life. They are hoarding their money, falling for the deceitfulness of riches as THE means of security and as the only thing that matters.
So what do we do? How do we draw the line, how do we avoid being legalistic?
Serve God.
You cannot serve God and money so the answer to all money conflicts is to serve God. That means you pray, and you live as you are led. Serve God. Contribute to what he is doing on the earth as you have means. It means pay your taxes and your debts.
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