Better off Poor?
Ecclesiastes 4:13
Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning.
I’ve heard many a “successful” person say, ‘I was better off when I didn’t have anything.’ My thought is, “Let me have what you’ve got and I can make it work. (smile)
What they mean is that they have not found contentment and fulfillment in money alone. As a matter of fact, many of them echo the sentiment of the Notorious BIG, “Mo' money, Mo' problems!” There is something that is often lost between the transition from not “having enough” to having “more than enough,” if we are not careful. There is something that many of us get growing up poor that many people who become rich leave behind. There is an appreciation, humility, and dependency towards God when you are poor that is abandoned when you become rich. Jay Z said, “I can’t help the poor if I’m one of them…but you can’t help the poor either if you are not ‘one with them.’
When we become our own gods we lose our awe of God. Often there is “no church in the west,’ because we have no allegiance to the sovereignty of God. In the song, “No Church in the West,” the singer asks, “What’s a king to a god, what’s a God to an unbeliever who doesn’t believe in anything?” There is not ‘Church in the West’ because we are like the Church in Laodicea whom Jesus chastises by saying, “You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Revelation 3:17-18)
It’s better to be a poor but wise youth. Wisdom is reverence for God. That wisdom is what brings you prosperity, but when you become successful the danger is you forget God. Jesus said, “it’s hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God, “because he is infatuated with his own little kingdom.
God gives warning before destruction but a foolish King doesn’t take heed to warning. It’s better to be poor and wise than it is to be rich and foolish.
1. Stay Humble. 5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
2. Stay Hungry. 6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
3. Stay Holy. 8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
Dear God,
Keep me grounded even as you take me higher. No matter how high I get, I will always be looking up to you. Thank you for taking me from just enough to more than enough.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Ecclesiastes 4:13
Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning.
I’ve heard many a “successful” person say, ‘I was better off when I didn’t have anything.’ My thought is, “Let me have what you’ve got and I can make it work. (smile)
What they mean is that they have not found contentment and fulfillment in money alone. As a matter of fact, many of them echo the sentiment of the Notorious BIG, “Mo' money, Mo' problems!” There is something that is often lost between the transition from not “having enough” to having “more than enough,” if we are not careful. There is something that many of us get growing up poor that many people who become rich leave behind. There is an appreciation, humility, and dependency towards God when you are poor that is abandoned when you become rich. Jay Z said, “I can’t help the poor if I’m one of them…but you can’t help the poor either if you are not ‘one with them.’
When we become our own gods we lose our awe of God. Often there is “no church in the west,’ because we have no allegiance to the sovereignty of God. In the song, “No Church in the West,” the singer asks, “What’s a king to a god, what’s a God to an unbeliever who doesn’t believe in anything?” There is not ‘Church in the West’ because we are like the Church in Laodicea whom Jesus chastises by saying, “You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Revelation 3:17-18)
It’s better to be a poor but wise youth. Wisdom is reverence for God. That wisdom is what brings you prosperity, but when you become successful the danger is you forget God. Jesus said, “it’s hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God, “because he is infatuated with his own little kingdom.
God gives warning before destruction but a foolish King doesn’t take heed to warning. It’s better to be poor and wise than it is to be rich and foolish.
1. Stay Humble. 5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
2. Stay Hungry. 6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
3. Stay Holy. 8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
Dear God,
Keep me grounded even as you take me higher. No matter how high I get, I will always be looking up to you. Thank you for taking me from just enough to more than enough.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
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