Day 52 - 90 Days in Proverbs - Gain
Proverbs 10:2 [CSB] Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone, but righteousness rescues from death.
Ill-gotten gain don’t profit anyone?! Apparently, the world Solomon lived it worked a little differently than the world we live in today. In modern times, it seems to me that a lot of people do profit, prosper and even become wealthy in a less-than-honest manner. Ill-gotten gains, whether cutting dangerous corners in construction in order to make a bigger profit, or loan and banking fraud, or rate hikes on medically vital drugs or treatments, to name a few, lead to multiple mansions, gold watches, and personal planes. Televangelists who live like kings even sell the idea that those believers who finance their kingly lifestyles with tithes and offering are paving their own way to financial rewards.
Of course, Solomon could have meant that ill-gotten gains do not profit one forever. Eventually, many of these modern-day scammers do get caught and punished.
Jesus made the point that the benefits of ill-gotten gains do not last forever when He said in Matthew 6:19-20 [NKJV] 19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Of course, whether those goods or treasures are compiled in this life by criminal activity or honest work, they could rust or be stolen. And even wealth that is acquired by honest work cannot be transfered to the next the next life. When we stand before the judgement seat, the Lord is not going to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, your honest labor allowed you to acquire 3 homes, 6 cars, and a personal helicopter.”
Matthew 25:31-46 goes into great detail about the work that we do in this life which will create rewards in the Kingdom and earn us the phrase 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: That work is the acts of love and service to others that we perform. These acts of love and service outlined by Jesus are precisely the acts of righteousness that “rescues from death” - as Solomon put it.
Sisters, I hope you have earned some nice things in this life. If those things are earned by honest work, there is no shame in living a comfortable, nice life. You don’t have to give everything away and live in abject poverty like a monk. But we do need to share our physical goods with others.
Even then, we still need to realize that those well-earned goods will not travel with us past this life. We all know the phrase “you can’t take it with you” is 100% true.
We only gain reward in the Kingdom by giving away things in this life – whether time or money, food or goods – to benefit others. The “treasures of wickedness” (as the New King James puts Proverbs 10:2) will not last. The treasures of hard work and honest labor will not last past this life either.
We might as well share with others what we do gain by honest work in this life. We might as well share the talents we have received too. This is the only way to true and lasting rewards that will earn us a place in the Kingdom. These are the only gains that we can take with us.
Prayer — Father God, Thank You for the hope of true and lasting reward in Your Kingdom. For the sake of the Kingdom, and for love of You and Jesus, every blessing, every good thing that You give to me, every good thing that hard work brings me, I will share with the less fortunate. Help me to give generously, as You have been generous to me. Show me where and how to help others. Help me not to do so in order to gain reward, not even reward in the Kingdom, but out of love for others – just as You have blessed me out of love for me and not because I deserve it. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Your thoughts —
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