Memorise: He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. Proverbs 28:8
Read: Proverbs 11:1-4 (KJV)
1 A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.
2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Bible in one year: Judges 5-6, Ezekiel 23:11-27, Hymnal: Sing hymn 5
Message:-
Today, the Spirit of the Lord is winning us to beware of excessive profiteering in business.
This is something people do in order to enrich themselves with worldly materials and possessions procured through huge profits. God says it is an act of wickedness when we unduly profit from essential goods and services. You may not know the pain you are inflicting by doing this unless God opens your eyes to see that some who need your goods or services for survival are suffering because they cannot afford to pay what you are charging them. People who do this either do not know or have forgotten the words of wisdom in Proverbs 13:11, which says:
“Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.”
It is even worse when some rich employers of labour deny their workers their due wages, all in a bid to live large on what does not belong to them. it is equivalent to slavery when people work for you and you either don’t pay them or you tactically delay their payday. If you are involved in this, the Holy Spirit says to you in James 5:3-4:
“Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.”
A close look at the misfortunes of those practicing such wickedness will make any wise person to heed God’s warning in this scripture. Those who loot the public treasury in order to leave something behind for their children have proved themselves foolish in this regard. Even in their lifetime, their children begin to mismanage their ill-gotten properties. We have heard stories of labourers’ children buying the properties of their fathers’ masters after the Lord of Sabaoth caused wealth to change hands. Only the riches gotten through just means can stand the test of time. No wonder Proverbs 22:22-23 says:
“Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.”
Beloved, remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and be wise: He warned us that the value of a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of the things he has (Luke 12:15). May the Lord grant you the great gain that comes from godly contentment in Jesus’ Name.
Prayer Point: Father, please deliver my soul from insatiable greed today, in Jesus’ Name.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Churches in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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