My dear readers,

“Poor with God” OR “Rich with Trouble”?

Proverbs 15:16: “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.”

Love God and hate mammon or love mammon and hate God, for no man can love both (cf. Matt 6:24)! This truth was declared by Christ because God would never accept anyone who claims to love God and mammon at the same time. Sinful man has been seduced and snared by the lusts of his flesh, lusts of his eyes and his pride of life since the day he was born. These are all the symptoms of deep rooted sin in every human being since man began to exist in his mother’s womb. With this sin he has the sinful nature. The sinful nature is held captive by the god of this world, causing him to think that his life is measured by the abundance of what he possesses. This deception deludes man into wasting all his days in the pursuit of fool’s gold. By the end of his life he will realize that he came into this world naked and he will leave this world naked! By then it will be too late. His one and only life would have been lived and wasted in the pursuit of meaningless mammon!

Children of God should know better. Israel was surrounded by the presence of God through the Levitical system of sacrificial worship which reminded them daily of their need for Christ to die for their sins. Their God-given holy feasts were to remind them of their birth as a nation belonging to God and sustained by God. Israel was literally bombarded by God’s teaching and His presence every day as they journeyed in the Land of Promise! They had a choice: either to have little but with the fear of the LORD in their hearts and lives or great treasure and trouble all around them!

It is important to note that God is not saying that a believer cannot be rich and that if he is rich then he must be wicked! This is not the meaning of Proverbs 15:16. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who were the seeds of Israel were very rich. King David was very rich and was also called a man after God’s own heart. Abraham was called a friend of God! Conversely it is important to also note that just because a person is poor, it does not mean that he is blessed by God. The focus of Proverbs 15:16 is on the heart of man and not his external circumstances in life. 

Poor with the fear of the LORD! – If the choice of every believer’s heart is that he is made poor for Christ’s sake, it will be well with his soul. His soul cries only for one thing and that is to please the LORD God regardless of the external circumstances in his life. He must not follow the LORD or love Him because of the good things in life he receives. He must love and obey and fear God because He is the one living and true God and beside Him there is no other. He says in his heart like Peter who said to Christ in John 6:68-69: “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” The LORD has the words of eternal life. There is nowhere in the whole universe where the words of eternal life can be found except in Christ. Every child of God knows this by experience. This is his heart’s desire and motive. He follows his LORD unconditionally and not for the blessings he receives or does not receive.

Therefore if it is God's will for him to have little, he accepts it and will never leave his LORD. He knows that in the Bible (cf. Lev 26 and Deut 28) God promised His people blessings when they obeyed Him and curses when they disobeyed Him. These blessings were both spiritual and material. However, the children of God also knew that they ought not to be motivated by the material blessings even though this would be the reciprocal effect if they were to obey the LORD in the Land of Promise. They were to only desire to fear the LORD unconditionally. They understood that to fear the LORD was to get rid of sin in their lives and to live in holiness. They did not want their LORD to be angry with them. They knew the consequences and the shame they would cause to the name of their LORD if they remained in sin. This was what the LORD desired for all Israelites as they witnessed for Christ as a nation. For example, the LORD says to not eat any unclean food as a clear difference that must be made between Israel and the other nations of the world. Israel had to retain her holy witness for Christ to help the world find salvation in Christ. They were not to make any marriage or business covenant with any Gentile nation. If a Gentile were to marry an Israelite then he had to become a faithful Israelite, like when Ruth married Boaz!

The protection of the sanctity of Israel’s witness was good for the rest of the world that is steeped in sin. Holiness was the way to maintain the holiness of the LORD. Leviticus 11:43-47: “Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.” The fear of God is the key to keep holiness alive and biblical.

Rich with trouble therewith – Conversely, if the motive of the Israelites was to be rich, trouble would follow all the days of their lives. Many have willed and have succeeded greatly in the pursuit of wealth. Their only all-consuming goal is to make money. Their philosophy that drives them onward till they die is “enough is never enough.” When they become millionaires they will want to be multi-millionaires, and then billionaires. Finally, they want to be the richest in their country and if possible even the whole world. They have the entire material world to their heart’s content. By this time they are probably old and do not have much life left in their bodies. They know they will die soon and see their Maker. But, outside of the material world what else do they have? Do they have real friends whom they know for sure befriended them for who they are or because of their wealth? Is their family life one of happiness, love and genuine care for one another or are they living with strangers because there was no time for any parental relationships and bonding through their children’s growing up years? They spent all their time making money and building empires of bricks and mortar but not life with family. More often than not the husband and wife relationship also suffers badly. Extra marital affairs become common to the point of normality whereby the wife knows that she is there only in name but no longer in heart and real life.

What exactly does the billionaire have at the end of his heart’s pursuit of wealth? NOTHING! Naked he came into this world and naked he will leave. All the wealth he earned in his lifetime will be enjoyed by others whose lives he continues to ruin, for they too would most likely become like him. Their lives are “great treasure and trouble therewith”! As long as there is no peace in the heart with God, there can be no peace in the world. Seeking wealth only brings more sorrows and troubles and not that ever elusive peace that many have foolishly thought could be gained through wealth! Their one life had been lived and wasted in the pursuit of fool’s gold.

What will you choose? “Poor with God” or “rich with trouble”?

Food for Thought – All truly born again children of God have already chosen poverty with the fear of the LORD!