Title: Pretenders
Scripture Read: Proverbs 13
Key Verse: “One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth”. Proverbs 13:7
Observations:
In this passage we find some incredible wisdom nuggets when it comes to handling money. First, we see a clear call for all of us to work hard. “The sluggard gets nothing…” At first glance that seems harsh, but then after thinking about it a while, in my experience, those who don’t work and labor for something don’t value it. In a little while they will be looking for the next hand out. It isn’t about the appearance of wealth, it is about being wise in handling money. Forget about the appearance, appearances are inconsequential. It is all smoke and mirrors. One small problem is spoken against here, materialism. How insecure we are as people to have to care that someone else cares what kind of car I drive. Coolness is so ridiculous and overrated.
Applications:
I have met the prettiest people in the world living here in this area of the world who are as broke as broke can be. There are scores of people who act rich to make themselves feel better and impress the person at the stop light they will never see again. Why is it that we care so much about what people think about us? We are pretending to be rich. We drive new vehicles with a payment we can barely make to impress the person at the stop light we will never see again. We have credit card debt of $8,000+ because we eat out every other day. We live in homes way above our income, wanting a lifestyle we can’t afford. We live in neighborhoods for their prestige and act like Jesus cares how big our house is. We buy slick technological trinkets. We dress in designer clothes so people think we are cool and hip. We buy huge big screen TV’s. The real rich people I know live simply and give with amazing generosity. They drive their cars into the ground, get their clothes at target, and their houses are paid off. They don’t need a BMW or a Mercedes to define them. I don’t need a BMW to make me happy. Recently, some friends of ours had their house burn down. When I talked to him on the phone, I will never forget his words. “We have each other, we have food, we have friends that love us, and we have a place to stay tonight.” I refuse to pretend.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your provision of today, help me to be wise about today with my finances so I am able to generously help those in true need and be able to give to advance your work in this community.
Burning Questions:
In what way are you pretending to be rich? What do you need to sell in order to pay off a debt? Write your definition of what you think rich is.
Pretend: to cause or attempt to cause (what is not so) to seem so, to appear falsely, as to deceive, counterfeit.
At the end what pretend means is that we are living a lie: something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture. And we all know lies are not what God wants us to live. This is what I got from the Easton’s Bible Dictionary An intentional violation of the truth. Lies are emphatically condemned in Scripture (John 8:44; 1 Timothy 1:9, 10; Revelation 21:27; 22:15).
So pretending is simply lying about who you are, putting a mask, it is deceiving… we know it will not last, there will come a time when the truth will light on us and all our ‘pretending’ will end.
Abraham asked Sarah, his wife to lie and pretend that she was his sister, Isaac did the same with Rebekah, Jacob pretended to be Esau when he presented himself to Isaac so he could get the first born privileges from his father… are we seeing a pattern here? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…. all ‘pretending’, were they good men? yes they were, did they know God personally? yes they did, and still knowing this would bring pain and sorrow, they still lied. I am not saying pretending is good, oh no, not at all. But as we read in the scriptures, these men thought at the time it would be beneficial for them to ‘pretend’. We know what happened with their ‘pretending’!!!!
I would love to drive a BMW, guess what? I can’t afford it! I would love to live in a nice neighborhood, guess what? I can’t afford it! At least not at the moment. We need to learn to appreciate what we have and what God provides for us. Since I came to the US I have learned how wonderful it is to trust in God’s provision, learned how to appreciate His blessings, I had to humble myself before Him in order to grow as a person. It has been challenging because I was used to live a life of plenty in my country, but here I have learned to live with what I earn, I have seen the grace of the Almighty providing for all our needs, He has sent provision from the North, the East, The South, The West as He had promised me!
I consider myself very RICH!
RICH: well supplied; abounding; abundant; copious; bountiful, productive or fertile, fruitful. This last one is the best definition: fruitfuil!!!! That’s what richness means for us Christians to be FRUITFUL! Let’s all be rich, let’s proclaim what God has abundantly given us: HIS WORD.