Unless your definition of “rich” matches God’s, you will never have enough. Material wealth is an endless ladder and chasing it will lead to destruction. By being involved in the wrong things, we lose our ability to be involved in the right ones. Satan uses earthly wealth to follow on his path of self destruction. Pursuing Godly riches has a real and enteral reward. A question was posed at church on this particular topic, ‘What does rich look like to you?’ Omitting any material wealth, I realized that my mother was right so many years ago, if you have your health, you have everything. At the time I was only 16 years old and my health was just fine, I wanted a car. Some forty years later, I understand what she meant. If you are in good health, almost anything is doable. If we could have perfect health with no pain, no disease, no form of illness, that would give us ultimate freedom.
I have a nephew who makes a very comfortable income. He lives in a very wealthy part of California, drives the top of the line vehicles, owns a beautiful home on a hill and travels from one end of the country to the other on a whim. He’s done well for himself and he’s in his early 40’s. He has two beautiful daughters that are spoiled beyond spoiled and are given whatever they ask for. To look at him from the outside, you’d say he has it all, but he lacks one major component. He’s an atheist. He also is in a miserable marriage that seems to be beyond reconcilable, but he goes through the motions and keeps the family together for the children as well as for himself. His wife makes just as much money, if not more than he does. To dissolve the marriage would mean they would both financially have to change their lifestyles. So, while his bank account may say he’s rich, he lacks the true riches from God. He has no understanding of biblical truth or what comes after he leaves this world. For now, he has it all, and to him, that’s all that matters.
My riches are in heaven. I truly believe God will take care of my needs because he always does. I believe in an earlier blog I wrote about my experience with the woman who was homeless. I asked her if she knew Jesus and she lit up with great enthusiasm and exclaimed yes, she loved Jesus. My next question was an obvious one, “Do you wonder why Jesus would not provide for your needs? A place to live, food, a job?” Her response was most humble. She gave glory to God and pointed to the shelter. “I have a place to stay and food in my belly. It isn’t Jesus’s fault that I am a drug addict. I put myself in this situation, but with His help and my faith, I will better myself.” Several weeks later I ran into her again and she was excited to tell me she’d been clean for 30 days and that she just got a voucher for a studio apartment. God always provides for our needs. She doesn’t have the material wealth my nephew enjoys, but unfortunately he doesn’t have the spiritual wealth, happiness and faith this woman has.