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 |  634055 | Jan 21, 2007 11:45pm | Ecc 2:26
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness (Ecc 5:19), but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God(Ecc 6:2). This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Possessions, thats a major worry about the world at times - what should I do? Is it wrong to have this? Should I get more?
Number one - we should not worry about the possessions themselves, as they do nothing on their own (this includes blaming them for things).
Number 2: Is it wrong to have this? Like I said before, having a possession itself is not wrong - we should be more concerned about what we are using the possession for. For this question, I will reogranise a little of the NIV's words to make it clearer
"God gives to the man who pleases him". If we use the possessions in a way that pleases God, then thats fine. How do we know when the use of the possesion does not please him - when we begin to depend on the item, believe that without it, we couldnt live. In other words, we have made an idol out of the item.
Ex 20:4
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
We are also given a reminder as to not worry about others wealth because God has control over that - whatever they have, it will be given to the righteous (the one who pleases God) in the end.
So, two line summary.
God has given everyone of us possessions, and wants us to enjoy them in a way that is pleasing to him. We also should not worry about the wealth of others because God will hand over all their wealth to the righteous in the end.
Now the first line of the next verse will be our ending point of this post, and the whole verse the starting point of the next post (in addition to your comments about the particular verse we were discussing now)
Proverbs 3
9 Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops; |
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Sponsor |  Ewtn2000 | Mar 7, 2007 12:27pm | | We must be cautious here because you can see where the thought of 'Wealth and Health means you are doing well in Gods eyes', comes from. |
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| | | 634055 | Mar 7, 2007 8:39pm | 'Wealth and Health means you are doing well in Gods eyes', comes from. Not necessarily.
The appearance of wealth and health is very different to actual wealth and health.
Good things happen to bad and good people, the Bible tells us that (Ill get the verse later).
Seen wealth and health is completly different to unseen wealth and health. |
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|  fireforchrist | Mar 12, 2007 1:43pm | Take Job as an example. Yes, God did bless him abundantly, but he allowed Satan to take it all away.
"We also should not worry about the wealth of others because God will hand over all their wealth to the righteous in the end."
Are you saying we do not have to give?
Are you saying Christians, if they obey God, will be blessed with wealth and health? |
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| | juliamajor | Apr 7, 11:13pm | | The same God that let's the rain fall on the good and the bad is the same God who allows the unrighteous to become wealthy while the rest don't. taking the logic of some of the posters that would mean all the poor deserve it and all the ill deserve it. We know that that is not true.- God has a special concern for the poor- and it is up to those who have to give to those who don't or correct situations that are unfair. Besides if being good was wealth building wouldn't there be a heck of a lot more people trying to be good? what benefit would a bad person gain if that is true?The whole point of Job was that he suffered despite being righteous. It advanced the theology of the time that tied illness and poverty to sin and health and wealth to goodness to a more palatable , even-handed theology that saw such situations as a test or purification. |
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Bible Studies → Discussion