“…Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever...” Psalm 112:1-3, NIV (italics and emphasis mine)
I grew up believing poverty and holiness are synonymous; you couldn’t separate them. Jesus being the model, He was poor (no house, no income), lived amongst the poor and preached pro-poverty (blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God-Luke 6:20; it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God-Matt 19:24, etc) Then I discovered a few wealthy men in the OT: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Solomon; NT: Cornelius, Joseph of Arimathea.
I also read that God gives us power to get wealth (Deu 8:18), God’s blessing will make me rich (Prov 10:22), that a good man leaves inheritance to his children’s children (Prov 13:22) and sinner’s wealth is stored for the just (Prov 13:22b); that Jesus was poor that I may be abundantly supplied (rich) (2 Cor 8:9). I realize I must have been taking Jesus and his teachings out of context…the devil fights hard to keep Christians poor, this way he will frustrate our mission, spreading the gospel and enjoying life, “…the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard…” Eccl 9:16, NKJV
■¨■ Does God care whether we are rich (abundantly supplied) or poor (lack)?
[rushwa ni adui wa haki, sitatoa wala kupokea rushwa | bribery is the enemy of justice, I will neither give nor receive it ]
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