Welcome to "Tuesday Mornings," a source of blessing and encouragement for Christians everywhere.

 

Sorry to be late. A last-minute trip to Dallas interrupted the normal schedule. I guess you could call this week's epistle, "Tuesday Evenings." Better late than never.

 

This weekend I heard about a property owner in Texas whose wealth is significant. His real estate tax bill was something over $77,000. For one year. I call that huge. The state calls it "fair." To qualify for a loan to purchase a house expensive enough to demand that much taxation certainly suggests that somebody is prosperous. The owner? No doubt. Ditto for the builder. And probably the school district in the county where the home is located.

 

There are some who teach that God wants every Christian to be prosperous in this life. Persuade me! I have seen far too much poverty in the world to be comfortable making prosperity a generalized entitlement. Some who hold to that view seem to sell a lot of their books, tapes, and sponsored trips. Maybe that's where the real wealth is.

 

You guessed it. This week's epistle is entitled "Prosperity." Continue reading whenever you are ready for a reality  check. Then have a rich week.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Traveler

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Prosperity

Tom Barnard

 

iven the choice of prosperity or poverty, do you know of anyone whose choice would be poverty? I don’t. Unfortunately (or fortunately), life doesn’t give us the choice of one or the other. Many things factor into how life turns out for us, but it is rarely “Plan A or Plan B—take your pick.”

 

Sir Francis Bacon was a British statesman and essayist whose lifetime was split between the 16^th and 17^th centuries. The development of the “scientific method” can be traced to him. But he was also a philosopher and left an interesting quote relative to prosperity:

 

“Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes,

and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.”

 

Strange. I would have reversed the points: “Prosperity is not without comforts and hopes.” But I think I get his point—the road to prosperity takes you through fears and distastes, comforts and hopes. In other words, wealth is seldom dropped into our laps without requiring a solid effort on our part first.

 

At the onset of the Exodus from Egypt, the Hebrews were made up of one class—all were slaves. No one owned real estate. No one was prosperous. None were royalty. That would change, of course, but not immediately. One entire generation of the Children of Israel discovered the sorrow of disobedience—their unmarked graves were to remain in the desert beyond Canaan. But by the time Joshua had emerged as successor to Moses, a winning plan had been introduced. In the first chapter of Joshua was this promise:

 

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8, 9)

 

Long before Joshua became leader, God promised success to his people. In Deuteronomy is this promise:

 

“The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands…The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.” (28:11-13)

 

But this was not an unconditional promise. Prosperity wasn’t an entitlement. Social security it was not. Two things were required—obedience to God, and work! Note what is recorded in Psalm 128:1-2:

 

“Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.”

 

The rich, young ruler (who, by anyone’s measure, was prosperous) asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus laid out the basics—“Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.” (Luke 18:18) The young man responded that he had kept them all since he was a boy. Jesus continued, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” And Luke said, “When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.”

 

God is not opposed to prosperity. After all, he created it. But he wants us to remember that there is a right way and a wrong way to gain it. As someone has said, “It’s not what we have that counts, but what has us.” While we rejoice in God’s promises, we need to remember that there is work to do.