Proverbs 10:15
“The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: and the destruction of the poor is their poverty.”
Notice that the writer identifies each situation with possessive pronouns in “his strong city” and “their poverty”. What a person owns or does not own determines that person’s situation in this life. It is almost putting the responsibility of situation squarely upon the shoulders of the individual, not the circumstance. The rich man owns his wealth, and therefore is strong. The poor owns his poverty, and therefore is headed for destruction. You don’t have to be a genius to look at society today and understand the truth behind this as concerning how having or not having money alters the outcomes of millions of people all over the world each and every day.
However, I would like to turn this proverb just a tad, and look at this gem from a different side, and see if it might reflect some wisdom upon this subject that we might otherwise overlook. Certainly, the scripture mentions wealth and poverty as the two main elements, but it does not indicate what kind of wealth or poverty. To be rich or poor means to have or have not a particular substance. You can be rich in material things and money and be completely void of morality and spiritual wisdom. You can be impoverished, and still be rich in wisdom, peace, and righteousness. Over and over again the scriptures bear this out. You can have all the money in the world, but what can you do if you child is a drug addict. Can your money change his or her heart? What if you are an alcoholic? Can your money take away the desire to drink? Can a leopard change his spots?
If not, then who is poor, and who is rich? Who is the wealthiest of individuals? Is it the man whose bank account and portfolio puts him in the top 1% of the most wealthy individuals in America, who has had three wives, none of which he has been able to keep, and has an innumerous number of problems with his children that his money cannot seem to fix. Or, could it be the person who works a blue-collar job, comes home to a smiling faithful wife of 22 years, and then sits down at the table to see the four angelic-like faces of his grateful children peering across the table at him with great admiration and respect, as he bows his head in thanksgiving for the blessings he has received in life? No doubt. One of these through his own poverty is headed for destruction, and the other’s vast wealth keeps him safe and secure!
I am not at all contending that to be poor is wisdom. I am contending that there are more things in this life that create wealth than just mere money. There are many other things in this life that will make you secure other than working towards financial security. Whose house will stand? Whose house will fall? Who is rich? Who is poor? Listen to the words of Christ.
Revelations 3:17-18 “Because you say, I’m rich; I have become wealthy, and need nothing, and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, and white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see.”
Pastor LaVaughn
