Would You Be Content with Wealth?

Have you ever noticed what the Apostle Paul said about contentment and wealth?

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
—Philippians 4:12 (NASB95)

You saw it, right?

Paul said that he knew how to “live in prosperity” and had learned the secret of “being filled” and of “having abundance”!

If Paul had not said the same thing in three different ways, I’m not sure that I would have paid attention. I think that is the point: "Attention!" He wants us to think about wealth in a way that is not natural to the human mind.

Solomon acknowledged the power of money:

Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.
—Ecclesiastes 10:19 (NASB95)

It is natural to think that lots of money, living in prosperity, being filled and having abundance will guarantee an easy (or at least, easier) life. In fact, if there are no financial worries, plenty of food and an abundant supply of everything else, then…

I guess that’s the question…“Then… what???”
(Read this slowly.)

• “This is life???”
• “We’ve got it made???”
• “Rest easy now???”

Solomon was looking at the reality of life on this globe we call earth. When you look at people who have no relationship with God, you most often see people who are in one way or another chasing the ‘almighty dollar,’ or at least, something the dollar will provide.

We are tempted to think that contentment belongs in the conversation with poverty, not wealth. However, Paul was dealing with the reality of human nature.

When people get money their character is most often revealed. Whether money tempts a person to chase more money or to waste it with frivolous spending, attention is focused on self.

When you get money back on your tax return do you plan ahead on how you will spend it for yourself? Invest it for yourself? 

Have you ever thought beforehand that you would like to honor God with part of what you have received?

Ask yourself the same question regarding a bonus from your work, an inheritance, a substantial raise or promotion, a financial gift.

Does having money make you think about God or is it more likely to make you forget God?

Paul made an astounding statement: He said that he had learned to be content in prosperity. That means that he learned to keep his focus on God instead of himself. He did not become intoxicated with wealth. In prosperity, he remembered that enough IS enough. Contentment.

Give me neither poverty nor wealth. Feed me with food that I need for today, so that I don’t become overfed and deny you by saying, “Who is the Lord?” or so that I don’t become poor and steal, and then misuse the name of my God.
—Proverbs 30:8-9 (ISV)

Can you pray that proverb with sincerity?
Only if you are content.

Mark Stinnett

August 4, 2019