PROVERBS AND PROSPERITY – GOODMORNING

by Dr. Barry Davis

Several men in the locker room of a private exercise club were talking when a cell phone laying on the be”nch rang. One man picked it up without hesitation, and the following conversation ensued:

“Hello?” – “Honey, It’s me.” – “Sugar!”

I’m at the mall two blocks from the club. I saw a beautiful mink coat. It is absolutely gorgeous! Can I buy it? It’s only $1,500.”

“Well, okay, if you like it that much.”

“Thanks! Oh, I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new models. I saw one I really liked. I spoke with the salesman, and he gave me a great price.”

“How much?”

“Only $60,000!”

“Okay, but for that price I want it with all the options.”

“Great! Before we hang up, there’s something else. It might seem like a lot, but, well, I stopped by to see the real estate agent this morning, and I saw the house we had looked at last year. It’s on sale! Remember? The beachfront property with the pool and the English garden?”

“How much are they asking?”

“Only $650,000, a great price, and we have that much in the bank to cover it.”

“Well then, go ahead and buy it, but put in a bid for only $620,000, okay?”

“Okay, sweetie. Thanks! I’ll see you later! I love you!”

“I love you, too.”

The man hung up, closed the phone’s flap, and raised it up, asking, “Does anyone know who this cell phone belongs to?”

Wouldn’t it be nice to really be able to make those decisions so easily? Or maybe it wouldn’t – I think it would depend a lot on our personal character.

Some of you might be surprised to learn that the Bible has a lot to say about prosperity, particularly in the book of Proverbs. Now when we talk about prosperity, specifically financial prosperity, I think there is a lot of confusion for us as to what the Bible exactly does say.

On the one hand you have some TV preachers telling you that God wants everyone to be rich, and if you’re not, you don’t have faith in God. Then on the other hand, you have some who say that God wants everyone to be poor, and that we should feel some sense of guilt for being materially well off.

What we discover in the book of Proverbs is somewhere in between those two extremes – God specifically gives us the principles for becoming prosperous, but He also tells us to pursue prosperity in a godly way. In other words, God encourages us to pursue wealth, as long as we don’t forget Him in the process.

Rest assured that most of the principles below will apply to you whether you are a Christian or not.

Step #1 – PURSUE WISDOM IN EVERY WAY

Let’s look at a couple of verses together:

Those who listen to instruction will prosper; those who trust the LORD will be happy. – Proverbs 16:20

To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper. – Proverbs 19:8

There are several important actions listed in these verses we need to be involved in if we are to experience prosperity, and they all have to do with our minds. We need to acquire wisdom, cherish understanding, and listen to instruction. Now these things can happen through a variety of experiences, but they mainly have to do with gaining an intellectual and spiritual education.

Let’s say that I plan on becoming prosperous through owning an advertising business. Most likely, I’m going to need to receive instruction in this area from others who have been successful at it. I might need to go to college and get a degree in this area. Or, I might need to work for someone else who is successful for a while, learn everything I can, and later start my own business.

There are no shortcuts to this – I need to learn how to be wise in business dealings, how to treat my customers, my suppliers, and 1,000 other things that will be involved in being successful. In other words, if I am going to be prosperous I need to take the advice of Proverbs to heart and do whatever is necessary to be educated in a particular area.

And while there are people who are prosperous who never spent a day in a college classroom, I will guarantee you they got educated somewhere – through an apprenticeship, through books, or through on-the-job-training. Somewhere along the way, they had enough diligence to do what was necessary to succeed, and if you want to succeed in this way, you’ll need to do the same.

Step #2 – BE GENEROUS WITH ALL YOU HAVE

A guy named Joel Schelsinger borrowed a book from his local library in Orchard Park, NY. But by the time Joel revisited the library to return the book, it was 24 years later. He had borrowed The Joy of Camping in 1981, but forgotten about it. In 2005, now living in another state, Joel had rediscovered the volume and determined to make things right. Traveling 400 miles to his old hometown, Joel returned the book and paid a fine of $2,190. The maximum penalty for overdue or lost books is $15 – Joel wasn’t satisfied with that. Knowing that the Orchard Park library faced a budget crunch, Joel calculated what his actual fine would be at 10 cents a day for all those years. It added up to $2,190. Referring to his over-and-above act of generosity, Joel said, “I hope they can do some good things with it; maybe buy some books.”

Now here’s a guy who could have paid the minimum, or never even returned the book, and no one would have been the wiser – but he had a generous spirit.

Proverbs tells us that:

The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. – Proverbs 11:25

One of the secrets to prosperity is personal generosity. It is amazing how even secular books on business and success follow this biblical principle, and I’m not even sure they are aware that it is in the Bible. I’ve even heard completely secular and successful people use the term “tithe” in reference to giving a large portion of their earnings to nonprofit organizations.

It is a spiritual principle of success that many of us miss. And while I would not give for the purpose of receiving, at the same time I know that God says that He will give a return on my generous investment toward those who are in need.

Don’t expect to receive from God, if you do not give for God. I’m talking here about being a person who lives a generous life, and gives of their time, and finances to those in need.

Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing. But a curse will come upon those who close their eyes to poverty. – Proverbs 28:27

Step #3 – WORK HARD AND PLAN WELL

This is something a lot of people like to avoid, but the fact is you cannot be prosperous without these two ingredients. You’ve heard that old saying, “You’ve got to plan your work and work your plan.” That is absolutely true for anyone who wants to be successful.

Too many of us are like the farmer who went out to gather eggs. As he walked across the farmyard toward the hen house, he noticed the pump was leaking – So he stopped to fix it. It needed a new washer, so he set off to the barn to get one. But on the way he saw that the hayloft needed straightening, so he went off to fetch the pitchfork. Hanging next to the pitchfork was a broom with a broken handle. “I must make a note to myself to buy a new broom handle the next time I go to town,” he thought.

By now it is clear the farmer is not going to get his eggs gathered, nor is he likely to accomplish anything else he sets out to do. He is utterly, gloriously spontaneous, but he is hardly free. He is, if anything, a prisoner to his unbridled spontaneity.

The fact of the matter is that hard work, planning, and personal discipline is the only way to become prosperous in any endeavor.

Listen to these verses from Proverbs:

Hard work means prosperity; only fools idle away their time. – Proverbs 12:11

Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied. – Proverbs 13:4

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. – Proverbs 21:5

Now unless you have a big inheritance coming, I promise you that you are not going to become prosperous by luck, or by sitting on your tail end and hoping for it. God says that if you want to be prosperous, make your plan and then get to work. No excuses, no procrastination…just do it.
-Dr. Barry Davis
www.pastorshelper.com