From childhood, we are tantalized with a goal that is unrealistic for most and unbiblical for all. It’s the concept of becoming a millionaire someday. There are about 24 million millionaires in the United States with the US having the largest global concentration of millionaires with 7.1% of our population fitting into the millionaire tax bracket. Globally, there are about 58 million millionaires.
The concept of striving to become a millionaire was introduced to our lives with Milton Bradley’s The Game of Life. We took our little cars around a track, stopping along the way to get married, have kids, buy insurance, pay bills, and take out loans. We had opportunities to invest in the stock market or other schemes that potentially made us a bundle of money or cost us dearly. Being the good American game that it is, you could even sue people along the way. By the end of the game, you hoped to be at Millionaire Acres and not in the Poor Farm.
In 1999, Regis Philbin introduced us to a show and asked, “Who wants to be a millionaire?” Contestants answered a series of questions, building a tier of money with each question progressively getting harder. Over the years of the show, only 15 won the top prize by answering all 15 questions.
Today, we have all sorts of gambling avenues that entice people to get rich quickly. I’m sure we’ve seen the annoying FanDuel commercial with all these people on a single tandem bike chanting, “Calling all, calling all, calling all Thrillionaires.” Their jingle is good because it sticks with you even if you don’t want it to!
And, we have “Christian” financial advisor, Dave Ramsey, encouraging people to get out of debt (a good thing) and to become a millionaire. “Baby steps” are taken in the progression to achieve financial freedom. You can even take courses through their Financial Peace University (FPU) – at a one-time cost of $99.99.
If you go on the website, you can also find plenty of FPU merch. The most expensive item is an FPU genuine leather padfolio that will set you back $159.97. T-shirts are more “reasonable” at $29.97 or cheaper ones for $20.
Sounds to me like someone is getting rich off of the financial desperation of others!
Why this devotional and why today? Today is National Be A Millionaire Day. People like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Jeff Bezos are held up as inspirational models. Wouldn’t we like to be just like them? That is a hard pass for me!
If you are reading this today and you are a millionaire, it is not a sin to be wealthy. It is not a sin to be a millionaire, billionaire, or anything else. That is not the point. The point is that it is a sin to strive to be wealthy, to pursue becoming the millionaire as a life goal. If making money and getting rich is our goal, the Scriptures make it crystal clear that this is not right. Proverbs 23:4 says, “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.” Another warning is issued in Proverbs 28:22. “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.”
We know that we need money, right? It’s impossible to live in a society without money. It’s costs money to have a home, pay for lights and heat, put food in the fridge, clothes on our backs, and fuel in our car to get us to work. The Bible makes it very clear that we should work and not sponge off of others.
However, the Christian’s pursuit in life cannot be about accumulating and hoarding money. It cannot be about developing a life of comfort and ease so that we can spend the rest of our days “playing” while others do the work.
Proverbs 28:20 tells us that “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.” When we are faithful to the Lord, HE takes care of blessing us and providing for our needs. Our heart’s drive and concern should be about pursuing God and Godliness, not gold.
Another encouraging passage is found in Proverbs 10:16. “The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.” The labor of the righteous is going to be righteous labor. The results of such labor do not guarantee that our bank account will be bursting at the seams but it does insure that our treasures are laid up in Heaven. (Matthew 6:19-20)
Let’s remember that there are so much more important things in life than money. Heed the words of Proverbs 11:30. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”
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