He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough! A faithful man will abound with blessing, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. Proverbs 28:18,20
Making money is a big deal — in the world. We all have to make money to live. Money is not evil, but as Paul wrote to Timothy, the love of money is the root of all evil. If you love money you will do anything to get it. You might even sell your grandmother. OK, I know that is a ridiculous statement, but it sure brings understanding of just how evil people can be when all they care about is how to make a buck and get rich.
Here are some synonyms for frivolity: self-indulgence, irresponsibility, triviality, abandon, levity, foolishness. The definition for frivolity is foolish behavior, or something silly or unimportant. So a frivolous man is a person who is consumed with himself. He is irresponsible, doing only what he wants to do when he wants to do it. He is trivial, meaning he is small minded. He doesn’t consider wisdom or things of greater importance. He acts with abandon, meaning he does not have what it takes to stick to a task purposefully and get it done, but rather acts impulsively. He is full of levity and foolishness, meaning he will not take on burdensome tasks. He just wants to play as opposed to work hard.
Bottom line, the frivolous man will get what he deserves – poverty and punishment. In the end he will be a beggar. A loser. Someone who lives off the goodness of other people because he has done nothing significant or long lasting for himself or others. Run after riches. Play the lottery. Gamble your life away. Find some kind of scam to rob people of their money and you will pay for it. Sadly, there are many so called “Christians” who live that way toward God. They listen to some preacher telling them they can be “blessed” and have “riches” if only they will bring their money and give generously. These preachers are scammers. They only care about money and getting rich off of simple minded people. But the people who give them money deserve what they get because they, too, are playing the Christian version of “get rich quick” . Give and God will give big time back to you.
Is that what God is to you? Some kind of genie in a bottle who can give you everything you ever wanted if you just give Him an offering of some sort? Do you give to God in order to get from God? How sad if true. We don’t give gifts to our loved ones in hopes of getting even better gifts in return, at least we shouldn’t. We give to them because we love them. How much more should our giving be toward God. So don’t fall for some sort of Christian get rich scheme, no matter how well-packaged and attractive it may appear.
Tilling the land is hard work. I lived in Africa for eight years and I know how hard people work to produce a crop just to feed their families for a few months. Day after day they make their way to the field. It’s a process that takes time and a lot of hard work but in the end, with God’s blessing of rain, it will pay off.
Good things take time to build. Good families. Good relationships. Good careers. Good churches. Good disciples. Good anything takes much effort, dedication, attention to detail, and sacrifice. When tempted to take a shortcut, don’t. When tempted to take the path of least resistance, remember where that path will take you. Be faithful. Be true. Be honest with God, yourself, and others. Be a person of integrity and love God more than anything this world has to offer. And when you stand before God to give an account of your life you will not be ashamed.
