It's obvious. Proliferated everywhere are magazines and books touting the fact that ... here it is, "Everyone's goal is to get rich." The resultant effect is greed. And the eventual consequence – trapped when the economy nosedives.
We need to define “rich” correctly.
In order to get rich, some will use diligence. Others use shrewd business tactics. Some use dishonesty, and some use God. But the goal is still the same. They just differ in the ways to get there.
Wealth is often defined as looking good in front of others, having possessions that impress others so they say, "Wow!" To get the “wow” of others, we spend too much; sometimes beyond our means. Then we pay through the nose for these things that impressed others, and with the economic downturn, w, our next sentence is not "Wow," but "Ow!"
Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich..."
Rev. 3:17-18
Image management is a high price to pay for a consumptive lifestyle. It's a high price to feel better about yourself. But many live this way because that's the goal. That's the definition and lifestyle of the rich and famous, and if that's the price, they are willing to pay the piper.
Here in Revelation, God makes a distinction we need to grab hold of. It will change the way we think. Here's what I mean...
You can be poor yet be rich, and you could have lots of money, but still be poor. "...You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked."
My goal in life is not to GET rich, but to BE RICH: rich in family life, rich in peace, rich in wisdom and friends, rich in being an integral part of God's plan, His ministry, His joys and even His sorrows.
Sometimes, the mere pursuit of more money actually robs you of wealth and distracts you from God's best. It exchanges the real thing for a knock-off, and the best for a counterfeit ... a fabrication of what you wanted in the first place.
So ... my goal is not to get rich.
It is to be rich.
Therefore, I must define what that means to me and pursue it. It will change the way I live, the goals I have, my timing and my plans. But in the end, I will not have wasted a life spent on image management. I will instead, have invested my life in being rich toward God and I'll hear Him say:
"Well done, my good and faithful servant."
That goal will take me through good times as well as bad times because you can be rich even the economy is down, can’t you?
May I invite you to invite others to the upcoming series UNSHAKEN AMIDST UNCERTAINTIES!
