Proverbs 23:4–5: Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
Insight
I find that the eagles on my dollars take off all the time. We cannot depend on riches. The whole thought here is this: There is nothing wrong in being rich. There is nothing wrong in working to be rich. However, don’t make that the goal in life. Wealth should not be the very object of our hearts. Some men have a lust, a thirst, a covetousness to make the almighty dollar, and the dollar becomes their god. A child of God is not to do that. A wealthy man told me, “I do not make money for the sake of money. I make money for what it can do. At first I made money for what it could do for me. Now I make money for what it can do for God.” There is nothing wrong in a man becoming wealthy. The wrong comes when there is the overweening desire of the heart for money. That is covetousness; actually it is modern idolatry. 1
Application
Jesus said in John 6:27, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life…”
There is a very searching question that we must answer often: What am I really laboring for? What is this daily battle for a paycheck all about? Am I trying to make a name for myself, or am I trying to make His name known to as many as possible?
Motivation
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
Money can buy a lot of stuff, but it can never buy lasting satisfaction. – TWEET IT
Prayer
Father, teach me to drink only from Your well, and to feed often upon Your Word.
1. Bridges, C. (2001). Proverbs. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
