Proverbs 23:4-5 “Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven.”
Riches are not evil in themselves. The Bible does not teach that money is the root of all evil, but that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1Timothy 6:10). Throughout Proverbs, Solomon listed instructions that will increase our chances of being successful. He speaks of honesty, integrity, and diligence, while warning against folly, laziness and getting involved with the wrong people.
That being said, Solomon also warns against thinking that money will solve all of our problems. He writes poetically of the inability of riches to really meet our deepest needs. He states that riches make wings and fly away. Have you ever watched a young child attempting to catch a butterfly? With each step the child takes toward the winged creature, it simply flies off to the next bush. Step after step, she thinks she almost has it, but again and again it simply flies away. Riches are like that. In one sense, they are aloof, but we think with just a little more work we will finally catch them. If memory serves me, it was Rockefeller who, when asked how much money was enough, responded, “just a little more than you have.”
There is another sense in which riches have wings. Not only are they difficult to catch, but riches will never provide what they promise. Often, we think that the solution to our problem is cash. If we had a few more dollars we could get out of debt, take that vacation we always wanted, replace the hunk-of-junk car we drive, or a host of other things. While I would agree that having is more fun, than not having, we all must realize riches have wings and cannot satisfy the real issues of life. The headlines remind us of that. We often read of wealthy actors, entertainers, athletes or business men, who have marital or substance abuse problems, are on anti-depressants or even take their lives. The reason is, riches have wings. They are unable to meet the deepest needs in the heart of man. In contrast to this Solomon writes,
Proverbs 23:18 “For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.”
The real solution to the issues of life, is a spiritual one. We need to realize, we will only be satisfied when we are in a right relationship with God. Jesus promised, all who received Him would have torrents of living water rushing through their lives (John 7:38), providing peace, joy, and love for God and others. We need to be sure, while we are in pursuit of “getting ahead,” we do not neglect to make investments in our relationship with the Lord.
As the new year approaches, resolve to accept Christ as your Savior and Lord, make daily investments in your walk with Him by reading the Word, and commit to regular attendance at a good Bible teaching church.
Pastor Jim
Things looked bleak for Israel. After their defeat in battle, Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jewish people were taken as prisoners to Babylon. An entire generation arose who had never set foot in the promised land, and who ignored the voice of God, when called upon to return and rebuild. For those who did return, morale was low, as the daunting task of rebuilding a nation amidst constant opposition bore down upon them. Zachariah records the words he spoke to the people, to encourage them to continue on in the work of the Lord. One of his greatest promises is recorded here,
Prudent means to be wise or even shrewd. The prudent man is the one who looks carefully down the road he is walking, in order to avoid falling into sin and away from the Lord. The simple, or foolish man, keeps walking, never aware of the danger he is in until after it has overtaken him. Obviously, Solomon is exhorting us of the need to be watchful. The Greeks were expert story tellers. They had established a vast system of gods, heroes, and villains, to help explain the unexplainable, and instruct the generations to come, regarding morality. One of my favorite stories is of a man whose name means forethought, who was given guardianship of a box that contained all the evil of the world. On one occasion, he left the box in the care of of his brother, whose name meant afterthought, and instructed him to not allow his wife, Pandora, to look inside. After his brother departed, Afterthought was influenced by Pandora to open the box, allowing evil to spread throughout the world. It was not until after he had allowed her to open the box, he realized the danger of his decision. There is a modern proverb that declares much the same truth,”fools rush in…”
Zephaniah was commissioned by the Lord to warn the people of coming judgment. In order to prepare the people for what was ahead, he explained the reason they were facing judgment. His message was both clear and simple, they must change their ways if they were to avoid what was ahead.
Sin is a plague that has infected every man. As Paul explained to the Romans, it was by one man (Adam) that sin entered the world, but that sin spread to all men because all have sinned (Romans 5:12). David, looking out at the world, and looking in at his own heart, declared, there were none righteous, not even one (Psalm 53:3). Most of us are familiar with the story of the woman who was caught in an adulterous relationship and brought before Jesus. After hearing the charges brought against her by her accusers, Jesus responded by inviting those in the crowd who were without sin, to throw the first stone. One by one her accusers dropped the rocks and departed, for they were all sinners (John 8:3-4). The truth that we have all sinned, makes Solomon’s question all the more striking. Is it possible for anyone to proclaim that their heart is clean, and they are pure of all sin? Scripture boldly declares that it is.
Even for those who have committed themselves and their ways to the Lord, life can be tricky. We face difficulties that create confusion in our lives, and even darken our view of God. Hymn writer Edward Mote wrote of times when darkness veils God’s lovely face. Habakkuk was experiencing one of those times. The conditions of life were causing him confusion, and he did not know how to reconcile what he was experiencing, with what he knew to be true of God. He writes this book to explain what he did in his trying times and what he learned from the Lord.
Marketers have realized that people are impulsive by nature. As a result, it is common to find a variety of “impulse items” located near the checkout stand in just about every store. These items are things we did not plan to purchase, but bought on a whim, and include items like gum, candy or DVD’s. For the most part, these are not high dollar purchases, and getting caught up in the moment, will not break most budgets. Buying an unplanned Snickers bar on the way out of the convenience store, will probably not have long lasting economic repercussions on your life. If however, you purchase big ticket items, without giving adequate time to consider all the ramifications, that can be very costly.
Nahum gives us essential insight into the true nature of God. He declares that “God is jealous.” Jealousy is a common term in our vernacular; usually used in reference to relationships. The dictionary defines jealous as, “feelings of envy or suspicion.”
Friendship is one of the most important parts of life. We were not designed to live in isolation or face all the struggles of life alone. We have some wonderful examples of friendship in Scripture. We are told that when Jonathan met David, he loved him as his own soul. He expressed this love by taking his armor and giving it to David (1 Samuel 18:4). As the son of the king, this action showed he believed David was chosen, by God, to reign in the land. From that time forward, Jonathan lived to encourage David to be the man God had called him to be. His actions illustrate Paul’s words to to the Philippians.
Jim Gallagher 