Wealth without Trouble

For Tuesday, 21 June 2005
Proverbs 10:22

The blessing of Yahweh makes rich,
and he adds no trouble to it.

If you were to ask the executives of Eron or former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers whether riches bring trouble, you can guess what they'd answer. Even when the rich don't end up in prison, wealth brings its own problems, as those of us who have far less in the bank also know. If we don't find ourselves wishing we had more, we worry and fret about what we do have, for moth and rust can destroy and thieves break in and steal (cf. Mt 6:19-21).

While Proverbs 10:4 told us "the hand of the diligent makes them rich," today's proverb gives us another perspective: it is God's blessing that is the source of all genuine wealth. When we recognize that it's God who makes rich, then we will regard all that we have as a gift. Moreover, we will trust God to care for us, receive all he gives with gratitude, and find ourselves less easily troubled by the exigencies of life.

But there is more to the proverb than material wealth.

My brother-in-law served as a lay Anglican missionary in South America for a number of years and observed a growing and healthy church, even in the midst of various material and social needs. In the end, he felt God's call to return to Canada and serve in pastorate. As he notes, the poverty of North America is profound, since "the First World has become the Third World spiritually." We may have mutual funds and nice homes, SUVs and iPods, but if we don't have Christ in whom all the treasures of God have been hidden, we are more poor than the poorest beggar on the streets of Paraguay.

Jesus Christ is our true wealth, a lasting and unfailing inheritance, if only we receive him by faith. Moreover, in Christ, our material needs are secure also. We may lose houses and fields, we may find ourselves in debt or out of work, but Jesus promises us we still have one another (Lk 19:28-30). We share together in the wealth of our brothers and sisters, both now and in eternity.