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Christian Wisdom on Wealth and Riches

"1Ki 3:11 And God said to him, Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself many days, nor asked riches for yourself, nor asked the life of your enemies, and have asked for discernment for yourself, to understand judgment,
1Ki 3:12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given to you a wise and understanding heart, so that there was none like you before you, and after you none shall rise up like you. "

Wisdom, and so God gave Solomon wisdom, so he was rich, the world's richest man, topping Bill Gates of course. Ever heard that preached to you, any christians that has been walking with Jesus for at least 3 years will have listened to that message preached. And so after hearing that message, many of us went to the altar when t it is opened as the preacher asked if anyone would like to have wisdom. So all of the christians moved forward and hope God will somehow zap them and gave them wisdom.

Scenario 2.....

"And 1Ki 3:4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
1Ki 3:5 Jehovah appeared to Solomon in Gibeon in a dream of the night. And God said, Ask. What shall I give to you? "

As we know that worshipping God is a form of offering, and after receiving the above message, many of us went home and worship the Lord intensely hoping that God himself will appear in a dream much like David and ask God for widom.

You may think that what I have written is funny and I am actually insulting some "fanatic" christians. But unfortunately, I am one of them.......

I still remember after grasping 1Kings 3:4 I worship the Lord like I never did, and I am not saying that worshipping the Lord is wrong. But the motive behind is wrong. I would start my worship session from 10pm and it will last till midnight.....and to be frank, each time I worship the Lord, I felt so close to Him and the Lord is really speaking to me through His scriptures like never before. Still then, God did not appear in my dream nor am I any wealthier.

For many years in my business life, I was struggling, thinking that this is temporal and one fine day, God will somehow zap someone along and pass me a million dollars cheque. Why do I have this fantasy in my mind? It is even stronger than my faith in Christ. Because I have heard too many testimonies of christians received wealth from God miraculously, that is why I am still a believer in miracles that God will send riches in our life.

First thing first, if you were given a million dollars from God in heaven, what will you actually do with it? Will you spend it? Buy your dream car? Splurge on your friends? Pay Tithes? Give it to your local church? Or maybe put everything in a bank hoping that it will appreciate?

If you are thinking of the last option, you are an evil servant. What?! You may exclaimed. You may be thinking that the interest given by the banks can give you a substantial amount of return base on a million dollars, but don't forget that there is something called "Inflation", and this inflation is calculated to be approximately at 3% annually. Which means a dollar today, will be $0.97 next year. Given the interest the banks "generously" provide, you probably won't make much or actually lose out. In another words, you are not getting ahead. So are you an evil servant? Why am I telling you all this? Am I wiser than you are if you don't actually know how money works?

Now let's look at the famous parable of the 5 talents, it is so "famous" that lots of christian after reading it, went straight into business without the slightest knowledge of building one. They got slayed by the evil world and blamed God for cheating them.

Mat 25:15 And to one indeed he gave five talents, and to another, two, and to another, one, to each according to his ability. And he went abroad at once.
Mat 25:16 And going, the one who received the five talents worked with them and made another five talents.
Mat 25:17 In the same way, the one with the two also did; he also gained another two.
Mat 25:18 But going away, the one who received the one dug in the earth and hid his lord's silver.
Mat 25:19 And after much time, the lord of those slaves came and took account with them.
Mat 25:20 And coming up, the one who received five talents brought another five talents near, saying, Lord, you delivered five talents to me. Behold, I gained another five talents above them.
Mat 25:21 And his lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many. Enter into the joy of your lord.
Mat 25:22 And the one who received two talents also coming up, he said, Lord, you delivered two talents to me. Behold, I have gained two other talents above them.
Mat 25:23 His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many. Enter into the joy of your lord.
Mat 25:24 And the one who received the one talent also coming up, he said, Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter;
Mat 25:25 and being afraid, going away, I hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have yours.
Mat 25:26 And answering, his lord said to him, Evil and slothful slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and I gather where I did not scatter.
Mat 25:27 Then you ought to have put my silver to the bankers, and coming I would have received my own with interest.
Mat 25:28 Therefore, take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
Mat 25:29 For to each who has, more will be given, and he will abound. But from him who does not have, even that which he has will be taken from him.
Mat 25:30 And throw the worthless slave out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth.

Looking at the above scriptures, some christians may think that putting their money in the bank is the one with the 5 talents, but they are wrong. As I have explained earlier that your money put in the bank, even though the bank may pay you interest, in the end your money will be killed by inflation. Conclusion, the banks win, you lose.

So what's with the one with the 5 talents? They are the ones that "invested" their money wisely, either in various investment vehicles that you can find in so many financial institutions are offering or investing in a business; because in verse 16 it says "worked with them". the servant did not place it in a bank, but he worked with them and NOT "for them". Now, please don't rush off and start throwing your money in any investment that you come across or start a business or buy a franchise. What I mean is invest wisely. If you invest blindly, that is gambling, calculated risk is investing.

So here comes the million dollar question again, what will you do if God is to give you a million dollars today? What will you do with it? If you still think you are going to leave it in the bank and say,"Investing is not for me, they are too risky." or "starting a business is just too much work, I am not cut out to be one of them, I will just go through life praising God and be contented, for contentment is great gain." Then wiom go.

To address the above situation, let us look at 1 tIMOTHY 6:6

1Ti 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1Ti 6:7 For we have brought nothing into the world, and it is plain that neither can we carry anything out.
1Ti 6:8 But having food and clothing, we will be satisfied with these.
1Ti 6:9 But those purposing to be rich fall into temptation, and a snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all evils, by means of which some having lusted after it were seduced from the faith, and they themselves pierced through by many pains.

The scriptures says that contentment is great gain, let me ask you this question, "are you contented at the situation you are in right now?" Chances are you are not, if you are conteneted you will not even be bothered to read this till now. There are different levels of contentment for different types of people. Some may be contented with a million dollars, some may just be contented with a good job.

If you are a skeptical type and am arguing with me in your mind right now with verse 7, then let me ask you,"Are you willing to strip yourself naked right now and be "contented" so as to attain godliness?" If your answer is "yes", read no further, as I believe you are stiff-necked and unteachable.

"What about verse 8,it says 'But having food and clothing, we will be satisfied with these.'" you might asked again. Let me question you,"Did the verse says 'But having POOR food and POOR clothing, we will be satisfied with these.'?" NO,of course not. How are you going to be satisfied by cheap food and cheap clothing?

Now come to the MOST FAMOUS verse of all time, even non-believers know this verse.
1Ti 6:9 But those purposing to be rich fall into temptation, and a snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all evils, by means of which some having lusted after it were seduced from the faith, and they themselves pierced through by many pains.
Now you will argue,"Look it says, if you want to be rich, you will plunge into destruction!"
Did you read carefully? It says "But those purposing to be rich". It means those that are always thinking of getting rich but don't know how to. These are the people that "work for money", they are working real hard and saving hard. They work 12 hours a day, got 2 jobs and purpose to be rich. Some will be invovled in illegal businesses to be rich. But what I am teaching you is to "let the money work for you". Do not let money be a master over you and you a slave. But be a Master over money and let money be your slave and work for you. THAT IS THE POWER GOD WANTS ALL HIS CHILDREN TO POSSESS! BE A MASTER OVER MONEY! NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND!

It even says in verse 10 "For the love of money is a root of all evils". Those who love money are the ones that work for money, they are slaves to money. When a new car appears in front of their TV screen, their heart say,"Wow, what a beauty, I got to have that to impress my friends." So they keep on working real hard or cheating real hard and finally save up enough money to put down a downpayment for that new car; little did they realized that they just dug themselves a new hole in debt and they has just bought themselves a liability instead of an asset that is suppose to put money in their pocket! They has just became a Slave to money! And these are the ones that Love Money, whic is the ROOT of ALL EVIL!

Well, after all these, if your answer to that million dollar question is putting your money to work or investing.....COngratulations! God has Given you Wisdom! Yes, that is right, since that day you asked for wisdom, God has already given it to you, just that, you do not know how to use it. As the saying goes "Power is nothing without control". You got to know how to use wisdom, how to control it, not letting your mind venture into the dark side, and that's "the love of money".

If by any means you think that wealth is not for yourself and that you are contented at where you are, living day by day, minding your own business, then I have to say,"You are a very selfish Christian!" Wow, why I say that? Look here, if all christians think that way, there will no one to help the homeless, help the needy and the poor! Where do all the fundings for research on modern medicine comes from? Money! Where do all those funding to help the ophans come from? Money! We need money to help others, without money, do you think you can really help the poor?

SO how do you use wisdom? That will be my next article, stay tuned...

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