Readings for today: 1 Kings 10-11, 2 Chronicles 9, Proverbs 30-31
“God, I’m asking for two things before I die; don’t refuse me— Banish lies from my lips and liars from my presence. Give me enough to live on, neither too much nor too little. If I have too much, I might get independent, saying, ‘God? Who needs him?’ If I’m poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:7-9)
Today shows us why it is so good to read the Bible chronologically. Juxtaposing these verses over and against the reign of Solomon provides a striking image for us to reflect upon. We tend to think of wealth as a blessing from God. We rejoice when our ship comes in. We are thankful to live in beautiful homes. Drive nice cars. Take nice vacations. Build plenty of wealth to retire on and enjoy the twilight years of life. What we fail to consider is the very real spiritual dangers that accompany such wealth.
Solomon was fabulously wealthy. During his reign, Israel enjoyed a period of great peace and prosperity. The economy was strong. Unemployment was down. Silver was so plentiful it ceased to hold any value. His annual income was astronomical. 666 talents of gold equals almost 40,000 pounds of gold each year. An ounce of gold on the current market is almost $1,955 dollars. $1955 per ounce multiplied by sixteen to get to a pound is $31,280. $31,280x40,000 = $1.25 billion dollars per year in today’s dollars! Incredible! No wonder he overlaid everything with gold! No wonder he sat on an ivory throne! But with all that wealth came temptation. The temptation to become self-sufficient. The temptation to become self-reliant. The temptation to forget God as the One from whom all blessings flow. And that’s exactly what happened. Solomon forgot God. Influenced by his foreign wives, he began building shrines to different gods. Trusting in his own strength, he failed to see the danger before it was too late. Unlike his father David, there is no indication in Scripture that Solomon ever repented of his sin. And though he finished his reign in relative peace, the nation would fracture after his son came to the throne.
“Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.” (1 Timothy 6:10 MSG) It is often said that money itself is not evil but only the love of money. This is true. However, because I am a sinner I have a tendency to fall in love with money when you place it in my hands. I almost cannot help myself. My heart is corrupt and naturally falls in love with material things. The more I have, the more susceptible I am to this particular sin.
Now consider where I live. Douglas County routinely ranks among the wealthiest counties in the country. The average household income is well above six figures. This places us in the top tenth of a percent of the world’s wealthiest people. Furthermore, America is one of the wealthiest nations to have ever existed on earth which means I rank among some of the wealthiest people ever to have lived. And while there are great blessings that come with such wealth, we have to acknowledge there is also great spiritual danger. We too have a tendency to forget God. We too have a tendency to be self-reliant. Self-sufficient. Self-dependent. Is it any wonder then that we suffer from high rates of anxiety, depression, opioid addiction, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation? In our “affluenza”, we have forgotten God. Our only hope is to repent and turn back to Him. To sacrificially and generously give away our wealth so that it loosens its grip on us. We must seek to store up treasures in heaven for where our treasure is, so our heart will be also.
Readings for tomorrow: 1 Kings 12, 2 Chronicles 10