Memorise: “He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.”- Proverbs 15:27
Read: Proverbs 1:17-19 (KJV)
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Bible in One Year: Genesis 44-45, Jeremiah 29:10-23
MESSAGE:
“Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” – Psalm 35:27
While it is an incontrovertible truth that God wants the righteous to prosper, He does not want them to prosper by any unrighteous means.
Unfortunately, in the world today, many people want to get rich quick with minimal effort, and more often than not, they resort to stealing in one form or the other to achieve this.
Being a thief himself, the devil aids such people in their enterprise, and some of them become very “prosperous”. When some children of God see this “prosperity”, they are tempted to apply the devil’s methods. This is a slippery slope every child of God must avoid because it leads to destruction (Psalm 73:1-3, Psalm 73:17-18).
Exodus 22:2-3 reveals what God thinks about the thieves and one of His cardinal commandment says, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). God is not only against stealing, He is also against those who support and encourage stealing, Proverbs 29:24 says that whosoever is a partner of thieves hates his own soul.
In other words, if you want to prosper in the real sense of the word, don’t be a friend to thieves. There are many thieves in the world today, stealing from their place of work and even from God. I urge you to not align with such people. Jeremiah 17:11 reveals what happens to the prosperity gotten through fraudulent means, saying:
“As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.”
Prosperity is not meant for liars; nor is it for those who use fake measures or doctored invoices (Proverbs 11:1). Some contractors would be asked to buy 20 bags of cement for a project, and they would either buy 10 or use 10 out of the 20 purchased for their personal project. In the same vein, prosperity is not for the greedy. According to today’s Bible reading, the greedy can even kill for money, but they do not know that they are troubling their own lives by their greed.
Just as declared in today’s memory verse, we see several families in the world today devastated by greed. Furthermore, prosperity is not for the lazy (Proverbs 6:6-11). Laziness is an act of unrighteousness, and it makes a person susceptible to sins like stealing (Romans 12:11, Ephesians 4:28).
Lastly, prosperity is not for drunkards and gluttons neither is it for those who are given to a life of seeking pleasure (Proverbs 23:21, Proverbs 21:17). Beloved, although God wants you to prosper, He wants you to go about it in the right way so that your prosperity does not become a curse to you and your household. Are you seeking prosperity through just means?
Prayer Point: Father, please prosper the labour of my hands so that I can have enough to give to others.
Open Heaven 2 May 2019 Thursday Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
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