Proverbs1
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: 13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: 15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. 17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. 18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. 19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
If you are seeking after riches, they will take away your life. Seeking riches will rob your life like robbers that lie in wait to shed blood. Many of us claim that we want to prosper to support the gospel but the truth is our focus is gain. It is all about money and riches. We are supposed to be seeking God, not money or blessings.
Proverbs6
6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
There is a lesson we can learn from the ant. The ant has wisdom to offer us. if we observe this about the ant we shall have wisdom.
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
The wisdom that we can from the ant is simply this, Work hard.
The ant doesn’t need a boss or supervisor to force it to work. It doesn’t need external motivation. The ant is self-motivated (selfdriven). It works hard in summer to provide food and then during harvest gathers its reward.
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
Many people are poor because they are lazy. They won’t work. We all are lazy after the flesh. That’s why we must be disciplined and diligent to get up and work.
This is why school s valuable. It teaches us discipline and diligence. It teaches us to get up early. It teaches us to work hard. You may not benefit from the subjects you are studying but you benefit from the discipline and training that school gives you.
Proverbs10
2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Prospering through wickedness isn’t profitable. It damages you. Cooking the books to get ahead, embezzlement, corruption, white collar crime, drugs, evil music and other entertainment. All of this isn’t profitable. You gain finances but lose your soul.
3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. 4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
To deal with a slack hand is to be lazy. If you are lazy you will be poor. Lazy leads to poor.
5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.
It is one thing to be lazy and not work, but it is another to work and then sleep during harvest time. It is the epitome of foolishness. After putting in all the labor of planting and taking care of the crop, harvest time reaches and you are sleeping and not bothered to go harvest the fruit of your hard labor.
We do this many times when we fail to seize the opportunities and fortune that comes our way. When we have worked hard and opportunities for increase, for promotion, for advancement come but we are too consumed with living life and doing our own thing that we aren’t ready to take them. This happens a lot especially in ministry.
“The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.” Pro12:27
A lazy man doesn’t even bother to roast and preserve what they took in hunting. They just let it rot and spoil. And then they will have to go back and hunt again earlier than they should.
We do this a lot when we fail to steward what we have. When we earn money and fail to steward it, to keep it, to invest it, we are like this slothful man that hunts and leaves his meat to spoil because he is too bothered to roast it. Thus we end up in lack sooner rather than later and have to work twice as hard in order to keep poverty away.
We work long hours, multiple jobs, and unpleasant jobs simply because we have no stewardship skills and all our money is being consumed. Work becomes a treadmill. Running very hard but going nowhere.
“Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase” Prov13:11
If you get rich overnight, in vain things, by vain wicked means it will diminish. The person that prospers by betting, by winning the lottery or some get rich quick scheme where you put it very little money, sit home and reap very handsome profits at the end of the week or month will not increase in the long term. The person that gathers by labor, by hard smart work will increase. Work hard and work smart and you will increase inevitably.
God’s way is little by little. This provides us with the opportunity to develop in stewardship, character and integrity as we increase. Remember that money is a test. As you are tested and you pass the test you increase. Money will test your faithfulness and character and integrity and temperance. Whether you will become proud or stay humble, whether you will stay focused or lose focus, whether you will stay honest or become a crook, whether you will stay contented or become greedy. All these are tests that money will give you.
“In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.” Prov14:23
All labor is profitable. It is profitable to work anything. As long as it adds value to others and to you. Even when people don’t pay you, God will make sure that you profit from that labor. It may be house work and chores for a house wife, school work, homework, volunteering etc. as long as it is labor, you will profit from it.
School work may not benefit you in terms of what you are studying but the discipline and diligence it takes to get it done and to pass well will benefit you in future. School teaches you respect and honor, commitment, diligence, discipline, time keeping, hard work, endurance, civility etc.
Proverbs24
30 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
These are they who are lazy and the ones always hanging out. Their life is about having fun. They will be poor. They are not concerned about their garden. They have a job but they don’t care. They go when they want, they do a poor job, and they have a bad attitude. Such people will be poor.
32 Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. 33 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 34 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
Enjoying life and having fun is not bad. But if you do it at the expense of work and productivity don’t be surprised when you are fired, when you lose customers, when your wife or husband leaves. Negligence and a lack of diligence will cause loss. Your poverty will have come upon you as a robber.
Proverbs28
19 He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.
One of the reasons poor people are poor is because they hang with vain people and with poor people. If you hang around losers you are going to be a loser. The only influence you will have will be poverty. Vain people spend all their time going out, having fun and enjoying life. They devote very little time to productivity. That is why they are poor.
20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
A person that is faithful will abound with blessings. A person that is a faithful and diligent steward will grow richer. God’s kind of prosperity comes by labor, by work, by diligence. If you labor you develop character and virtue. You prosper holistically.
Those that try to be rich quickly will not be innocent. Get rich quick schemes are not godly and hastening to become rich will lead you into unrighteous actions. You will compromise some way or the other. Either you will lie, steal, embezzle, kill someone, bribe someone or do something. But you will not be innocent.
21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.22 He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.
A person who hastens to be rich will transgress. They will develop greed and the love of money will dominate them and eventually they end up in poverty. They make have material riches but a poverty of life, peace, joy, good relationships, loving family etc.
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