If you missed the class on Proverbs on Wednesday night, it was about "Poverty and Wealth." I enjoyed the class very much, and I agree with everything that was said, but I dunno if the class was as complete as it could have been.

Of course the class discussed money, and many passages where shown that pointed out how it is a terrible mistake to put your trust in it. We also talked about having respect of persons, how it is often the case that we show favoritism to the one who seems to have wealth and disregard to the one who seems poor. Like I said, I agreed with everything taught.

However, is wealth just about money and earthly possessions? Well, is being "Wise vs. Foolish" (another prior Wednesday night topic) just about being smart and dumb? Or is there a spiritual application there? It seems the wise are those who take knowledge and apply it in a Godly manner. The fool is the one who takes knowledge and abuses it to his own destruction. Thus, if being wise or foolish has a much deeper, and more spiritual, application than just about how smart you are, surely wealth and poverty also have more to do with our lives than just on an earthly level.

So, if we consider the wealthy to be those who have laid up treasures in heaven...

Proverbs suggests the wise go to heaven - well, so do the rich!
Proverbs suggests the fool will perish - well, so do the poor!
The foolish do not become wise just hanging around wise people, they must learn! The poor do not become rich just hanging around wealthy people, they must earn!

There's nothing wrong with trusting in wealth, when it's the right kind of wealth. Put your trust in a lifetime of service to God, and you will not be disappointed. But if you earn nothing, well, then that is exactly what you will end up with in the end. So think about that. You might get yourself a hammer and some nails and a saw and go to a construction site. You might sit right in the center of all the activity, and watch while others put the house together around you. You have the tools, you have the talent, but you do nothing. I agree you are not down at the fishin' hole, you are at the job site. You are not home in bed sleeping, you are right there in the center of the effort. But if you are not helping, then what part do you have in the rewards? Did you earn any money, bring any gain to the company? If anything, you would be a discouragement. To those who are working who see you sitting there, you are a temptation to stop working to take a break and talk. Likewise, it is the same at the church. Look in the "reminders" section of this bulletin. There are bible studies going on all over, are you taking part in, any of them? Kieran does a radio show on Sundays and a TV show on Mondays. Maybe you could help in those. Participate in the radio show by calling in, or help out with the TV show by coming in and running a camera. Go to one of the bible studies and help make it a success! But the brother or sister that just sits on a pew in the middle of all these things going on is just like the worker above. We all have talents and tools. You don't have to layout the foundation, or put down perfect rows of shingles, but you could hammer in a nail or two! Sometimes one of the important tasks on a job site is simply cleaning up. In other words, there's always something that you can do to help. (As an aside, at the TV show Kieran is referred to as "the talent'. Isn't that funny all by itself?
And as was said Wednesday, if we consider the wrong kind of wealth to be simply earthly gain...

- money and "stuff' lulls us to sleep with a life of ease - and then have a nasty habit of disappearing when we need them most!

- Just like the wrong kind of wisdom (conceit) - we think we're so smart until we need real substance to our knowledge and find it's not there!

There's definitely more to wealth and poverty than just worldly possessions and how good of stewards we are of them. When we think of them in a spiritual way, we quickly realize that even the Old Testament never taught "faith only" - these people were expected to obey God in all points of their lives. God expects you to TURN (to Him), LEARN (of Him), and EARN (for Him!) How do you think God will react when you say to him "look, here's my hammer, shiny and new as the day I got it because I never did any work with it"? Do you really think he's interested in the hammer, or was it the work you should have been doing? Think about it!

Randy