Today’s Reading: Deuteronomy 7 & 8
An
often misunderstood principle in Scripture is that of the wealth of the
believer. Tragically, some influential
pastors and leaders have promoted a “health and wealth” gospel. They teach their unsuspecting listeners that
it is their divine “right” as followers of Christ to have riches heaped upon
them. They go on to imply that if you’re
not living a life of abundant material wealth, it is your lack of faith that
has caused your want.
These
so-called leaders will often misquote Deuteronomy 8:18, saying “it is God who
has given [all of you] the power to obtain wealth.” They go on to tell their followers that this
worldly wealth is a part of their “new covenant” with God citing the second
half of verse 18 “he who gives you power to get wealth,
that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers.”
Sadly,
this is a misunderstanding of the content and context of this verse. In context, Moses is warning the people of
Israel about the danger of self-glory and taking credit for the blessings they
receive. He warns them that if they start thinking to themselves, “I did all this. And all by
myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, think again. Always remember that it is
not you, but God who gave you the ability to produce all this wealth.
The truth of Scripture regarding wealth is this:
God calls people from all walks of life and all classes of society to be His
children. In God’s kingdom “the rich and
the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all.”
(Proverbs 22:2) God calls some to be
rich and some to be poor. “Listen, my
beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in
the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the
kingdom?” (James 2:5)