With all thy getting...

A time has come when man must no longer seek wealth, power and honour but must seek wisdom and understanding as Proverbs 4 v 7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” This is not a “new” thing per se but I speak as if it is new because I mean it with a sense of urgency for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is so close at hand. The dreadful hour of judgement will come swiftly and suddenly upon us that those who are not prepared will be caught off guard and risk spending eternity in hell.

Throughout all the ages man has been preoccupied with getting one thing – rich. Be it in pre-historic times or now in the modern age, every person wants to get rich. Why do we have such a desire to get rich? Primarily we want a secure life i.e. we want to know that we will always be provided for at any time. That is the first level – to have our material needs met. The second level is to get what we want when we want i.e. we want our wants and desires to be fulfilled by the riches we amass. The third level is power. This is the ability to do what we want when we want. How many of you dream of not having a boss tell you what to do? You want to be your own boss and to be someone else’s boss too. Power – that is what you want. The fourth level is honour. You want to be recognized as someone great. You go to a function and you want the people there to respect you. You want your name to be synonymous with greatness. Some of you might deny it but let’s face it, we all want that.

But there are consequences to getting rich. One has his/her material needs, wants and desires met. With that wealth comes power. How many people do you know that are not wealthy yet are powerful!? Get my point. With power comes honour. Most people that have been honoured throughout history were powerful and wealthy. These three go together. Wealth gets you power and power gets you honour. In other circles it is not known as wealth, power and honour but as money, power and respect. With the money you can get what you want, with the power you can do what you want and with the respect you are glorified. No wonder every one wants to get rich. Bear in mind that no one thinks this logically when they set about to get rich. Many rich people think they are protected as a result of their riches. Proverbs 18 v 11 says, “The rich man’s wealth [is] his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.” How many stories have you heard of certain rich people worming their way out of sure criminal convictions into freedom. Money, power and respect. Money can get you into many places, find favour with many people and get you many things. However, there are warnings in the Bible against desiring to get rich. 1 Timothy 6 v 9 says, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” The most famous warning being v10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” It is a known spiritual fact that if you love money you will not be far from being evil. There is nothing wrong with the money but there is everything wrong with loving it; everything because it is the root of all evil not some evil. It is the base upon which all evil thrives which is why Jesus said in Matthew 6 v 24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” From the verse you learn that if you love money there is no way you can love God as well. It’s impossible. And if you love money you therefore hate God. If you hate God, you are evil. That is how the love of money becomes the root of all evil. Get it. If you love money you hate God and all God-haters are evil. Also, all God-haters love money and those who truly love God do not love money but rather use it as a resource. These are spiritual facts that cannot be disputed. We learn from 1 Timothy 6 v 10 that if you love money you get off the straight and narrow path and onto the path that leads to destruction and Jesus, through the parable of the sower, told us that the seed that fell among thorns represented people that heard the word but the care of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth (riches, money) choked the word and they bore no fruit as Matthew 13 v 22 says, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” He was telling us that wealth is deceitful in that it gives us a false sense of security and as a result we depend on it rather than God and so we remain sinners on the path to destruction. “What false sense of security?” You may ask. “If the money buys me a house, pays my bills, fills my stomach and a whole lot more is that a false sense of security?” Hardly from a worldly point of view, but the real danger is not being homeless, poor, hungry, sick and naked. The real danger is being condemned to the pits of hell forever and money will not give you that security as Proverbs 11 v 4 says, “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.” The day of wrath is when Jesus comes back and judgement is set. No amount of money will satisfy the wrath of God on those that reject His free gift of salvation. Death is the wages of sin i.e. God-hating/ money loving. So the real security you need is salvation from eternal damnation in hell and that can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ.

So am I telling you not to get rich? Is being rich a bad thing? No, I am not telling you that being rich is bad and neither am I telling you not to get rich rather if you are rich thank God and do what the Bible tells you to do. 1 Timothy 6 v 17-19 says, “Charge them that are rich in thisworld, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” Jesus told us not lay up treasures for ourselves on earth but rather in heaven. He taught us that through generosity we lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. So what am I telling you to do? Rather than pursuing wealth which the scriptures have warned against and have showed that the pursuit of wealth will lead to a disastrous end, seek wisdom and understanding. This is done by having faith in God whom you believe will provide all you need. After all Jesus did say in Matthew 6 v 33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” If you do this, you will have begun to seek wisdom and understanding. Remember Proverbs 4 v 7 says wisdom is the principal thing. To be principal means to be chief, most important, key, foremost, head and first. Jesus says to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first. Do you see now that to seek wisdom and understanding is to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness this being the first, chief, principal, most important and foremost thing that we do. Why is it important that this be the first thing that we do? Listen to Psalm 127 v 1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.” Your life is lived in vain if God is not in control of it. Anything that you do when you are not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is worth nothing. So even if you are rich and you are generous, it means nothing to God if He is not in control of your life. Remember you cannot buy your way into salvation, it is a free gift received by faith in Jesus Christ. By seeking wisdom and understanding, you submit to God, you repent of your sins and you are saved from the pending judgement. At this point, your life takes a new meaning. You begin to live for Christ and start to do the things He wants you to do. Everything you do will be for His kingdom which you will be a part of and when He comes back He will take you with Him to heaven. The riches you pursue are in His hands because Psalm 24 v1 says, “The earth [is] the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” and 1 Samuel 2 v 7 says, “The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.” So where better to go than to God for all we need? And with “all” I mean both material and spiritual needs, the most important being salvation from our sins. From Proverbs 2 and 3 the following are the benefits from seeking wisdom and understanding or God’s kingdom and His righteousness: knowing God and His love, receiving righteousness through faith, protection from sins destructiveness, preservation of our eternal inheritance in Jesus Christ, success in whatever we do, health, riches from God, eternal life, wealth and honour (remember these two), peace and contentment, happiness and joy and they will be no fear of disaster and harm. You do notice that there are some benefits listed that cannot be bought by money. The choice is yours. This is what God says in Deuteronomy 30 v 19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” God bless you.