When King Solomon became king of Israel he had a vision from God in a dream. Busy offering to God in the dream he was allowed to ask God for anything he wanted. He then acknowledged how favoured he was to be king over all Israel and thanked God for it. He realised the importance of the office of king and expressed his desire to do a good job. Being young and inexperienced he asked for wisdom and insight in the execution of his duties. An intelligent and skillful leader, he thought, would be good for the nation.

God was very pleased with his answer because this request favoured the people and populace not the personal gain of the king. Solomon could have asked for richness or fame but instead he asked for wisdom to do his job properly. (1 Kings 3 : 4 – 17). Because of this God made him extremely rich as well. The principle in the whole story is that you should never do things for the money, rather work and do what you  do, to the best of your abilities. Be the best in what you do serve God in your work and leave the rest to Him.

Besides, only God is good and only he can make us rich. He is the fountain of all worthy things. He gives to people, good and bad, as he pleases things like wealth, health and fame. “For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked” Luke 6:35. There is no formula in the world of money, nobody can figure out how things work, we are sometimes amazed at the type of people who are blessed with money and fame. Some of these, so called celebrities, are the least, by our standards, to have received what they did. Most people would say they just do not deserve it, there are  numerous others who would be much better candidates for something like that. Unfortunately, God hands out as He pleases and mostly not according to what human beings have in mind.

There is nobody on this earth who can think he made it on his own or he is rich and famous by his own skill or wisdom. What he owns, every cent he has, comes from God and nobody else: “Do not be deceived my dear brothers and sisters! Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the creator of the heavenly lights.” James 1 : 17. Every rich man/woman in this world must just go on their knees and thank God for their blessings, He gave them what they have, nobody else.

As the poet in Psalm 127 : 1 – 2 said: “If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless; if the Lord does not protect the city, it is useless for the sentries to stand guard. It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late. For the Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep.” These words sound so unfair, why don’t God rather give to poor hungry children or devastated people there are so many of them, we just don’t know. In the mean time we must do what we can to help where possible and pray that God bring his blessings to them as well.

It is thus clear, money is a gift from God, your clever plans won’t work or make it more. Money can never be an object to pursue or a mission in itself. Money is always secondary, like a blessing. If you chase money it will run away from you and you will just sink into more and more misery. The word about this is so clear and true: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” Proverbs 23: 4 – 5. Rather seek wisdom do your work well and the rest will be given to you as a gift.

To chase money and riches is a dangerous thing to do. Never say: “I do this for the money alone.” you could be on a wrong track. It is best not to go on that money only way because it can create a lot of troubles and pain. The love of money might ruin your whole existence and put everything you love and cherish into trouble. Paul once gave very good advice to a younger man in connection with money he said: “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have pierced themselves with many grieves.” Timothy 6 : 8 – 10. It is very hard to add anything to this good advice given to a young man 2000 years ago, it is good advice that we can still gladly follow today. Just think of all the drug mules in prison all over the world many of them them on death row. It is much better to have peace and calm in your mind than to have constant stress in trying to fly high and desire many things, but never get them and instead end up in detention.

God is with us all the time, he cares for us and will provide what we need. Jesus reiterated GodÂ’s providence when he once talked about the things people worry about all the time. He said we constantly worry about what we shall eat and drink or the clothes that we shall wear. It is much better to live an honest and righteous life, fear God and be good to your neighbour and all you need will be given to you. Seek first the  Kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you. (Matt 6 : 33)

There is no get rich quick scheme, money doesn’t come quickly. The Bible says clearly that by accumulating your wealth little by little you will become rich eventually. It takes a long time and you have to be patient. Any quick-rich scheme will never put your needs first. “Honest people will lead a full, happy life. But if you are in a hurry to get rich, you are going to be punished.” Proverbs 28:20.

Be sure of this and learn a good lesson from a wise-fool, try to make a quick buck and you’ll lose a quick buck quickly! Rather do what you enjoy and have fun in pursuing your goals. Do things that will benefit others be committed in what you do and you will never go to bed hungry. God give us a promise in his word, a promise that will give us peace and put our souls at rest, He said through one of his poets the following: “I am old now, I lived a long time, but I have never seen good people abandoned by the Lord or their children begging for food.” Psalm 37 : 25.

In Lifestyle22 we believe that doing what you enjoy will eventually produce the material fruits as well