"Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven" (Proverbs 23:4–5)Riches are fleeting, plain and simple. Moreover, wealth is not limited to riches. In fact, true biblical wealth has little to do with earthly riches and more to do with the wisdom of God. Jesus, for example, used a poor widow as the prime example of one who gave more than all, even the rich. So what? She was willing to offer out of her need, while the rich only gave out of their surplus. (Luke 12:42-43) The widow's offering amounted to "two small copper coins, only the fraction of a penny." God's command is clear, "cease from your own wisdom." But, as is the nature of fallen man, we think we know better than God. Of course, we are okay with God's wisdom, so long as we can have ours too. Furthermore, he must understand that when there is a conflict of interest, our way wins out. Thus we tend to say to God, "surely you don't mean that!" So it is, we loose the blessing of living out the wisdom of God in our lives. Only those who are willing to repent of sin and submit to God's wisdom find the blessing of God in their lives. Make no mistake, he doesn't take second place. If you are giving the Lord second place you need to be converted. The command is clear: Repent. Your soul is in danger of hell fire!
Ananias and Saphira thought they could have the best of both worlds. You know, live with one foot in the world, and one foot in God's kingdom. How did that turn out for them? For those of you who don't know, they fell down dead at the apostles feet- Acts 5:1-11. They failed to heed the instruction to cease from their own wisdom. Rather, they decided that they would live according to their wisdom in the matter of wealth and riches.
Moreover, look at the predicament Gehazi, Elisha's servant, found himself in. It was his greed for riches that brought a leprous judgment upon him and his descendants forever. He couldn't shake the desire for "filthy lucre." It was his greed that blinded him. He also thought he could live with his own wisdom in front of God's. But, again the warning is clear: cease from your own wisdom!
So, what is God's wisdom in regard to riches and wealth? There is so much that could be said on this topic. I will limit my discussion to only a few passages and principles.
I. First, we must heed the call to guard our hearts, here is the warning, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Tim 6:9–10) Riches and wealth are not evil in and of themselves. It is the love of money that pierces the soul through with many pangs. Ultimately, evenly the desire for riches is sinful. Here is the Lord's illustration regarding the desire for riches:
"And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'" (Luke 12:16-20) Indeed, this man loved his security.
II. Second, we must allow God's Word to be our only wisdom. In a word: submit to the Word of God. Indeed, this is a life long process. As maturity comes, so does a yielding of all our ways to God's Word: in mind and practice. (Rom 12:1-2) Consider the text: "Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven." (Proverbs 23:4–5) The examples illustrated above bear the striking example of what happens when we think we know more than God. We must indeed cease from our own wisdom for the hope of Godly wisdom in life.
III. Moving back to II Timothy again, notice what wisdom says right before the passage we looked at above: "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." (II Tim 6:6-8) That is why I began my post suggesting that wealth is not limited to riches and true biblical wealth has little to do with earthly riches.
The conclusion of the matter: cease from thine own wisdom. Let God's Word richly dwell in you, and this all begins to make sense. Otherwise you will never accept it."And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first. (Mark 10:29-31) This is an economic lesson for all of life, it takes faith to accept the wisdom of God and cease from thine own wisdom.
