I may have shared this before. When Sarah was little she was talking with my dad, Pa. She said she wanted to go to Disney World again and Dad told her we would have to save up, we weren't rich. She quickly told him, "Pa, you are rich! You have me and Ivey!" Dad couldn't wait to share that with me when I got home. He was so proud of her, that she got it! I saw this on social media and thought of this story. "People are made poor every day by their need to appear rich. Act your wage."
I do not think, financially, I will ever know what poor is nor do I think I will ever know, financially, what rich is. When we first had our girls I wanted to stay at home with them so we had to make choices which meant we would have to do without some things. I have worried over money. I have had to budget. In other times, I have not budgeted. I have not had to worry. I have had most anything I wanted. One thing remains, I am so grateful for those hard times because it helped me remember where my help comes from. Psalm 121: 1-2, "I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Those hard times made me more grateful. I KNOW that all good things come from God, not us! 1 Chronicles 16:11-12, "Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced."
When we are proud and boastful, we are taking all the credit for what we have. Luke 12: 15, "Then he said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.'" I love the way Billy Graham says it, "There are two ways of being rich—have a lot, or want very little." As I get older I find myself wanting less and less because those are not the things that make me happy. Don't get me wrong, if the world changes, I would love to travel again. I love to see God's creation! But being with those I love is most important. I also desire less stuff and to live more simple. I find it very freeing.
Society constantly measures people by what they do or don't have. Some people try to "keep up", wanting more and more, they are not satisfied nor will they be. They feel the need to brag or act like they are better than someone else. The sad thing for them is that they have no idea that the person they think is beneath them is the richer one! Financial wealth does not define richness. Matthew 19: 24, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The poor are often generous. The poor widow is able to give away everything she has for the love of God. Luke 21: 1-4, "As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'Truly I tell you,' he said, 'this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'”
Many of us would be better off to be poor than rich. When we belong to Jesus, we are highly exalted, no matter how poor we are. With Christ in our heart, we are richer than the richest man on earth who does not have Jesus. As a Christian, we have gone from rags to riches! Be the right kind of rich!
"The Bible is a gold mine, waiting for someone to take out its riches." Lee Robertson
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