Scripture Reading:

Proverbs 13:7-9

Proverbs 13:7

There is that makes himself rich, yet has nothing: there is that makes himself poor, yet has great riches. 

Most people in our developed countries today consider wealth to be the most important value in life. A recent survey from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that 74 % of college freshmen were primarily motivated by money, and that has risen about twenty percentage points from previous decades.

But if the Bible establishes our ethical values by a wisdom that can only come from God, then we have to conclude that the masses are seriously deluded. Because wealth is not the most important value in life, it is possible to gain riches and still have nothing at all. In the words of Christ, “What shall a man profit if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul? What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”(Matt. 16:26). Sadly, young men and women today have never learned that the purpose of their lives is to live and die for Christ, to build His kingdom at all costs, and to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That is the only right answer for the UCLA college freshman survey. Of course, these young people do not learn this in the K–12 schools. Every day they are reminded that they must do well in academics—not to glorify God and to worship Him for His creation and providence, but in order that they might go to college and get a good job to make a good living. These are the underlying values taught in most secular schools which do not teach the fear of God as the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.

Jesus tells us to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal (Matt. 6:19). This means we should always be asking ourselves, “How can I take my resources, my savings, my time, my health, and my strength and consume it for Christ? How can I feed a needy orphan, and see that he is raised in the love of God? How can I find a way to make myself poor in exchange for true riches?”

Proverbs 13:8

The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor hears not rebuke. 

There is still a value to money. Sometimes we say that a man with money is a man with means. He is the man with the means to get things done. He can fund projects and hire attorneys to fight for good causes. One of the best causes for which a man fights is the defense of his life in a court, especially when he is surrounded by evil attorneys or prosecutors, who have no sense of what is just and right. In the book of Acts, we find the Apostle Paul claiming his rights as a Roman citizen in order to defend his life from angry Jews who would just as soon dispose of him. Position and money in a society can be helpful, especially when it is in the hands of the righteous.

“The poor will not heed rebuke.” Almost without exception, the wealthiest nations in the world are those countries that inherited the strongest heritage of faith from the Protestant Reformation. The richest nations in the world by per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) include the United States, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, England, Sweden, Hong
Kong, and Singapore—mostly nations and colonies influenced by the Protestant Reformation. Although the faith is in decline in most of these places, and many of these countries are set to experience unprecedented economic collapse, the heritage of Christian faith and character in history is clearly undeniable.

The over arching principle that this proverb brings out is that biblical wisdom leads to blessing and financial prosperity. This blessing appears over many generations, and the blessing will dissipate whenever biblical wisdom is neglected and cast to the wind. The reason that nations like Haiti and India are impoverished is that they have yet to receive biblical correction, which comes by the preaching of the Christian Gospel, communicated in all sixty-six books of the Bible. It is a message about man’s rebellion against God and idolatry, an exhortation to repent of sin and turn in faith to God’s only Savior for salvation. Unbelieving nations have the wrong view of wealth, sin, grace, creation, the use of cows, the environment, education, and everything else. As far as they have not received the correction of God’s Word (or they have yet to be discipled in the commands of Christ), they will remain spiritually and economically impoverished.

Proverbs 13:9

The light of the righteous rejoices: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. 

Light provides vision, and vision inspires hope and a motivation for life. When God gives a vision (by His Word and Spirit) to a righteous man, he walks with a spring in his step, a purpose and direction to his life, and a confidence that his journey is leading him to joy unspeakable and full of glory! After listening to a message from God’s Word on Sunday morning, his heart fills with confidence that he is in the right place, that God is with him in the journey he is about to take, and that (in the ultimate sense), nothing can possibly go wrong. In fact, the light grows brighter along the way. With each sin overcome by faith, with each biblical principle worked into family life, with each answer to prayer, and with each spiritual breakthrough seen in the lives of others, faith in the redemption and victory won by Jesus Christ only increases. Though still a lamb to the slaughter, the light of hope gleams all the brighter in the eye of the man of God. And, he knows with a greater and greater certainty that this journey will end one day in unimaginable glory. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

Meanwhile, the wicked also live their lives with some measure of confidence. It is misplaced confidence in themselves and man’s pseudoknowledge. The light by which they walk begins to fade, the flashlight batteries lose charge, and soon they are walking in complete darkness.

Family Discussion Questions:

1. Every family wants to make life worthwhile, always seeking after certain values and treasures while they live. What are the sorts of treasures we seek after in our home?

2. How does heeding rebuke help you to become productive in life? How are we doing in this area of heeding rebuke and correction?