Read through Proverbs in 31 days, Today’s reading is entitled “Tainted Wealth Versus Right Living”
Read Proverbs 10 – Before proceeding we need to define tainted wealth and right living. Based on your own studies throughout the year, how would you define these two terms? Have your life experiences led you to describe wealth achieved through cheating others as tainted? If so, we are in agreement. Now for “right living.” Can someone who doesn’t know Christ as Savior have a life of right living? I would say so because many are “good people” even though they refuse to believe in the Grace of God. Because these “good people” don’t know God, their acts of goodness can widely miss the mark of providing peace in troubled times. We can follow this logic into “righteous living” which I define as living for Christ. It is the life in Christ that produces acts of caring and love for others. Yes, Christians can have great worldly wealth in order to support those in need of financial guidance and resources. This can be a true application of the “teach a man to fish so he can eat for a lifetime” principle.
Let’s take a look at the five ponderings for today.
- Desire righteous living in order to save your life, avoid the tainted wealth provided by the evils of the world.
- A wise youth harvests in the summer – hard workers will get rich. One who sleeps through the harvest is a disgrace who soon becomes poor.
- Accepting discipline will keep you on the pathway to life, while ignoring correction leads the fool astray. Be wise and keep your mouth shut, avoiding slander, hatred and gossip.
- The godly person who lives wisely receives pleasure and his hopes are granted.
- The blessing of the Lord makes a sensible person rich, bringing pleasure, and does not bring sorrow with it.
How easy can it be to obtain “tainted wealth?” That would depend on your connections to those who can provide it. Maybe you know people in the drug, human trafficking or poaching trades. You may be thinking “Whoa, those are some seriously illegal and immoral connections!” If so, you would be absolutely correct. Has someone you know, or maybe you personally, fallen for the easy money scams that will guarantee 400% return and no risk. If so, you can be certain that these scam-type lures are likely to have immoral and possibly illegal roots. Remember, sin is sin regardless of whether it is a little white lie or murder.
This leads us directly into the next point about hard work yielding wealth compared to the poor sloth who “sleeps” through the harvest. Does that sound like someone who is looking for those get-rich quick schemes around every corner? It is this lazy type of person who is unwilling to accept discipline or correction but easily believes slander, hatred and gossip. The rewards for those following “the pathway to life” and willing to put in a hard day’s work for a good day’s wages can easily be discovered when that knowledge is desired. Continually practicing the principle of “put your brain in gear before your mouth takes off” will result in the wisdom of keeping your mouth shut when necessary to practice the attitudes of a godly person. Verse 27 says that the fear of God will add “length to life.” Does this mean that everyone who commits to a God-led life will live to be 80 years old and beyond? How about the foreign missionaries who are killed at an early age for their beliefs by the people they are witnessing to? How about the active Christian family that is killed in a tragic car accident? No, these people are not killed specifically because of any sins against God. “Length to life” should be considering the length of an eternity with God – accept Him and you are guaranteed an eternity with God in Heaven. At that point the Peace of God leads your belief system to conclude that the latest virus, earthquake or other storms in life are all powerless. Will these have the power to end your life here on earth? Possibly, if your assignment from God has reached its end. On the flip side of that coin, God’s people will be alive on this earth until He is finished with them. As Paul says in Philippians 1, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
