Faithfulness vs Get-Rich-Quick

For Monday, January 28, 2008
Proverbs 28:20

A faithful man will abound with blessings,
but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

The contrast between the character of the faithful man and the get-rich man lies in integrity. The faithful person's priority is to carry out his responsibility well. Whatever the task before him, his concern is to complete it and to finish well. Thus, he is one to be trusted to keep his word, trusted to act ethically and do quality work.

The get-rich person has one over-riding desire - to get rich. That desire controls his mind and heart. Thus, it clouds his thinking, pushing him to move from one get-rich-quick to another. It clouds his moral judgment so that he resorts to lying, scheming, manipulating, even stealing to accomplish his purposes.

It is easy enough then to see how blessings come to the faithful person. He is well thought of by his neighbors. His supervisors and those whom he supervises praise him. His faithful work will overflow into blessing others and thus result in blessings returning to him. Because he has remain faithful, he is likely to see monetary reward from his labors. He earns respect as a worker; he nurtures his business through the difficult times into prosperity.

The get-rich-quick person may experience quick riches, but is just as likely to quickly lose them. He is more likely never to achieve his dreams, because he lacks staying power. He lacks the necessary discipline to carry his labors through to harvest. He earns distrust from his neighbors; indeed, he is likely to earn their enmity so that they work against him. They desire his downfall.

Two persons with the same abilities. One possesses integrity; the other does not. So then their destinies are set.