Being rich

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.

Proverbs 10:22

Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!

Proverbs 23:4

Faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 28:20

The goal in life should not be what the world expects from us.  The world demands we work hard and save our money - become rich and enjoy the "good life."  As parents we attempt to instill this work ethic into our children, and also into those we work with, those we mentor. 

Yet aren’t we better off teaching work ethics in God’s ways - not man’s?

For when we were with you we instructed you with these words: “Anyone who does not want to work for a living should go hungry.”

‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬ ‭TPT‬‬

God says it rather plainly. He wants us to work but more importantly, He is very interested in our faithfulness - not just our labor. He makes us rich because of his blessings - these flow freely as our faith flows from our hearts.   Our hard work motivated by a big paycheck will not go unpunished.

This is difficult concept to grasp and put into action.  Living this way will create disillusion among our friends and family. 

Work. But more importantly, know that it is God that makes one rich. If you work and work and become rich without the understanding of God and His instructions, you will not find the Heavenly blessings that are freely provided by God because of your faithfulness.

The end game (God's favor) is the most important goal of our work. If the goal is anything else, we can expect punishment.