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                                                                                        Wealth and the Believer
                                                                                                      by
                                                                                                    Josprel

                                                                                                  Part Two

     Owning great possessions does not necessarily indicate that one is unrighteous. One is  not unrighteous simply
      because one is wealthy. Conversely, having no possessions does not  indicate that one is righteous. One is not 
      holy simply because one is poor.
     
      Scriptures record that Job was so wealthy that he “was the greatest of all the men of the East” (Job 1:3; KJV).
      Job was an upright man who feared God and avoided evil (3:1). God permitted Satan to test Job, to prove
      that Job did not require wealth to serve God. In Job, we ascertain the characteristics of a once wealthy man
      who, after loosing all his  possessions and his children, remained marvelously spiritual. After the loss of his 
      wealth, Job poetically informes us that he had made a covenant (contract) with his eyes: It was  a  covenant
      to not use his eyes as windows that permitted lustful thoughts to intrude intohis mind.

      “I made a covenant with mine eyes: why than should I [lustfully] think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1).
     
      Do you may recall that little chorus we often sang in Sunday school, “Be Careful  Little Eyes What You See.” 
      Well, Job practiced the spirit of that chorus thousands of years before it was composed. Since the eyes serve
      as the gateways of our souls to the world around us, it does indeed behooves us to be careful what they see!
      As Americans, we may not agree with censorship, but a self censorship of what we permit our eyes to see is
      justifiably spiritual.
     
      After the loss of his wealth, Job testified that God actually saw his ways and counted his steps: “Doth not he
      see my ways, and count all my steps?”

      Such an assurance that God actually sees our ways and counts the steps we take should comfort us in difficult
      times. My Dad’s favorite song was, “His  Eye is on the Sparrow,” in which occurs the phrase, “And I know He
      watches  me.”  To know that God watches us is either comforting or disturbing, depending on one’s conduct.
       It may disturb some that God watches them, but He nevertheless does. Knowing that God watched him
       comforted Job in his afflictions, though he  could not understand the reason for the poverty and ensuing
       sufferings that descended upon him.

      In riches and in poverty, Job remained true to God! 

      In sickness and in health, Job remained true to God!

      In the joys of all his children, Job remained true to God!
     
      In the tragic deaths of all his children, Job remained true to God!

      After the loss of his appalling loss, Job took assurance in fact that he had been  a considerate employer.
     “If I did despise the cause [needs] of my manservant  or of my maidservant, when they contended [reasoned]
      with me; what then shall  I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall  I answer him?”  (Job
      31:13 14).
     
      I once attended three day seminar titled, “Living Today in the Light of Eternity.”  Job lived in this manner. He
      lived each day in the light of eternity, asking himself  the question, [If I do not treat others well]  What shall I
      do when God riseth up [calls me to give an account]. What shall I answer Him?”

      Quite a question! One each of us should ask ourselves.  Sadly, we often hear  reports of those with great
      wealth who arrogantly look down on the less fortunate. One pastor told me of a family that once faithfully
      attended his services. “The entire family was faithful to the Lord,” he stated, “Each member of  the family
      helped in the work of the church. Some sang in the choir, some taught classes or worked  with children.”

      Sounding as though his heart was breaking, he continued, “Then a very wealthy  relative passed away and the
      family, who was the only heir, inherited  all the  person’s wealth. For a while, they continued attending
      services. Then they began behaving as though other members of the congregation were not in their
      social standing and, therefore, beneath  their friendship. Their church attendance gradually tapered off until
      now, no amount of persuasion will bring them back. They attend no church, and  have abandoned the Lord.”

      Job did not feel that way about those less prosperous then himself. He did not withhold from the poor, he
      cared about widows and orphans. He was one who shared his wealth with those who had less than he
      possessed. After the loss of his wealth, Job took assurance in the knowledge that he  had not greedily grasped
      for more wealth than he already possessed (Job 31: 24 25). He testified that he had  not made gold his hope.

      Someone once asked an extremely wealthy man who continued amassing huge  sums of money, but was not
       philanthropic, “Why are you still grabbing for more money. You already have more than enough to last several
       life-times.”

      “I do it because I can,” the man answered, “Anyway; one never has more than enough money.”
     
      “But why just horde it away; why not use it to help others who are in  need?” the person asked.
     
     “I worked hard for what I have. No one ever gave me anything. Why should I give away  it away? Let them
     work like I did. I’m not in the charity business.”

      Such tightfistedness degrades a person’s entire being. As portrayed in the time-enduring Christmas classic “A
      Christmas Carol,” greedily grasping for wealth without caring for  those about us creates a miserliness of the soul
      that cripples a person’s  existence.  Though  the tale is fictional, the mournful lament of the deceased,
      tormented, chain-bound Marley, to his  miserly former business partner, Scrooge, carries an aura of enduring
      truth, when he  wailed, “I wear the chains I forged in life!”   

     Wealth can, therefore, be a blessing or a curse, depending on the attitude of our hearts.
     
      As the Apostle Paul exhorted us, having enough to eat and drink, let us therewith be content.  After all, God’s
      Word promises us that “. . . with all his abundant wealth through Jesus Christ   . . . God will supply all your
      needs (Philippians 4:19; TEV).

     Now that’s quite a promise!  No one is wealthier than God!

                                                                                                           -30-
                                                                 
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