Proverbs 12:9
He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.
In the ancient world, the sign of financial resolve meant you had a servant. If you could not afford a servant you were poor. Our verse today hits at the proud hypocritical appearance of financial wealth and solvency in front of others while in reality, we are starving. The Latin Vulgate translations reads:¨“Better is the poor man who provides for himself, than the proud who is destitute of bread.” The Hebrew text reads: Better is the lowly one who serves for his keep (as of: serves himself because he doesn’t have a servant) than the pompous one (one who has servants) yet lacks bread.
I have spent many years as a missionary in poor countries of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, S.E. Asia and the Pacific. People may poor, but those who buy a house buy it cash. Those who buy a car come to the dealer with their briefcase full of bills. Once they buy it, they own it and no one can claim it from them for unpaid mortgage or payment. It is theirs. When I came to America, I thought everybody was rich. I remember a friend of mine who was a man with several children. He had a job sorting parcels at the post-office while his wife had a day-care in her house. I thought they were rich because they had a house, nice furniture, a brand-new van of the latest model and they seemed to be able to afford a comfortable life-style. It impressed me until I learned that he was 50,000$ in debt (not counting his mortgage payments). It is then that I realized that his apparent wealth was just a boast, that I actually was richer than him because I owed nothing to no-one.; because what I had, however little it was, was mine.
In the ancient world, the sign of financial resolve meant you had a servant. If you could not afford a servant you were poor. Our verse today hits at the proud hypocritical appearance of financial wealth and solvency in front of others while in reality, we are starving. The Latin Vulgate translations reads:¨“Better is the poor man who provides for himself, than the proud who is destitute of bread.” The Hebrew text reads: Better is the lowly one who serves for his keep (as of: serves himself because he doesn’t have a servant) than the pompous one (one who has servants) yet lacks bread.
I have spent many years as a missionary in poor countries of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, S.E. Asia and the Pacific. People may poor, but those who buy a house buy it cash. Those who buy a car come to the dealer with their briefcase full of bills. Once they buy it, they own it and no one can claim it from them for unpaid mortgage or payment. It is theirs. When I came to America, I thought everybody was rich. I remember a friend of mine who was a man with several children. He had a job sorting parcels at the post-office while his wife had a day-care in her house. I thought they were rich because they had a house, nice furniture, a brand-new van of the latest model and they seemed to be able to afford a comfortable life-style. It impressed me until I learned that he was 50,000$ in debt (not counting his mortgage payments). It is then that I realized that his apparent wealth was just a boast, that I actually was richer than him because I owed nothing to no-one.; because what I had, however little it was, was mine.
Later my friend went bankrupt and had to downscale his lifestyle.
Much of the financial problems people face today is because they want to appear to have a life-style they cannot afford. They drive a brand-new Jaguar when technically, they can only afford to drive a second-hand Ford. Their lifestyle is a pretence and for the sake of pride, they sacrifice their lives, their freedom, their faith and even their children on the altar of their own vanity. What a shame.
Much of the financial problems people face today is because they want to appear to have a life-style they cannot afford. They drive a brand-new Jaguar when technically, they can only afford to drive a second-hand Ford. Their lifestyle is a pretence and for the sake of pride, they sacrifice their lives, their freedom, their faith and even their children on the altar of their own vanity. What a shame.
To pretend to be of a certain standing when we are not is lying.
It is lying to ourselves and to others.
May God deliver us from the notion of evaluating our worth by the things we own, by the clothes we wear and by the lifestyle we can afford.
May God deliver us from the notion of evaluating our worth by the things we own, by the clothes we wear and by the lifestyle we can afford.
The true values of the Kingdom of Heaven are love, mercy, faith, honesty, and our wealth of personal dedication and obedience to God’s Words.
May the Truth, the Truth of the knowledge and continuance in Yahweh’s Words set us free, free from the lies, and from the bondage of the vanity in the world around us.
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