I watched a movie on a flight a couple of weeks ago that I had seen before called “Hell or High Water” (the most recent one). If you ever watch it, read the large billboards. One says DEBT; one says LOANS, and another says REFINANCE. Also, three times in the movie the characters make a comment that the bank is the one that ends up with all the money. All the people in the movie are poor and look like they live a hard life. At the end of the movie, one of the characters makes the comment that “my grandparents were poor, and my parents were poor. Poverty is a disease that is handed down from one generation to the next.” All of that reminded me of some verses I had recently read in Proverbs.

Proverbs 5:1-13 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

If we borrow money, our prosperity many times will end up with the banker, and all our labor will be in his house because of the interest, late fees and fines we pay on the debts we have. If you buy things you don’t really need or you bought because of the current fad, your wealth ends up in the pockets of the vendors. If you had all that money back, for some it would be quite a pile. Banks and vendors are in business to make a profit. I have nothing against them, but I am in favor of doing things God’s way and prospering.

Proverbs 21:17 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
Proverbs 21:20 There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.

We should follow the principles laid out in God’s Word of saving money and not borrowing, as much as possible. Cut up those credit cards and pay cash. Pay off that house quickly, drive an older car if you need to. God teaches much of this in His Word.

It is God’s will for us to not only prosper but also to be wealthy. ‘The lord shall open unto thee his good treasure.” God’s will is for OUR wealth to be in OUR house!

But if you are concerned about your priorities in life as it concerns money – if you feel that thinking too much about money is a sin, it might work well to consider it this way: the proper handling of finances should be as natural as prayer and other aspects of our walk with God. I like the way the Old Man put it in one of my favorite books “The Old Man and The Boy”;

“Rich, the old man said dreamily, is not baying after something you don’t have. Rich is having the time to do what you want to do. Rich is a little whiskey to drink, and some food to eat and a roof over your head, and a fish pole and a boat and a gun and a dollar for a box of shells. Rich is not owing money to anybody, and not spending what you haven’t got.” Robert Ruark

I like this quote because if you are looking for wealth according to the Word, it kind of puts it into the right perspective, like where Paul said to be content with such things as ye have. We are to be good stewards, managing our prosperity properly, seeing our God-given wealth grow year after year. But we are also to be content while being diligent. We can end the disease of poverty in our families by believing God at His Word.

You may have to read some books and study to learn how to live this way according to God’s Word, but this learning is also part of The Prosperous Life.