Bishop Keith Butler
May 20
For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? (Proverbs 27:24)
It’s easy in the world in which we live to become enamored with wealth and what money can bring. Most people around you are consumed with finding stability, security, and prosperity through the means of money alone. However, they are unaware of the truth presented in Proverbs 27:24: riches are not forever.
Humans have gained fortunes, built empires, and waged wars all for the sake of gathering more resources to themselves and yet, like sifting sand, it seems as though we cannot hold on to those riches no matter how much we try. Money can be here today and gone tomorrow.
Consider the financial crises of the past. Recently, we can recall the housing bubble, stock market crashes, and economic downturns in America where the stock market many trusted in plummeted, fortunes vanished, house appreciation crumbled and lives were shattered because people based their worth and their security in the “almighty dollar” instead of Almighty God!
Think about your life as a river. God sows goodness into your life and if you horde it and hold it tightly, you dam up what God intends to flow through you. That not only stops others from receiving, but it also stops more of God’s blessing from coming to you as well. As rivers flow, they give, they nourish, and they move with power. When we loosen our grip on our finances and allow God to be the Lord of our money, we become conduits for God’s blessings to flow. Money may ebb and flow in the country around us, but as we steward what God has given us, He ensures that the resources we need are always flowing through us. That’s real prosperity. It is not in the money we have, but rather it is the blessings we walk in by being a river of God’s power.
Think about your attitude toward money today. Are you clinging to it in fear? Are you concerned about the economy or the fear tactics that are spoken by the world around you? Or are you seeking first the Kingdom of God by sowing into what God puts on your heart?