Alert readers know that I often quote words of wisdom in my posts. Sometimes those words of wisdom come from holy scripture—generally Judeo-Christian scripture, since that is what I am most familiar with. Sadly, I sometimes get negative feedback when I do so. Our society has become so religion-phobic these days that “freedom of religion” seems to mean “freedom from religion” for many. I don’t care what your religious background—or lack thereof—is, the Bible and other holy texts are filled with pearls of timeless wisdom.
To prove this point, for the 31 days in August I plan to write on each of the 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is especially rich with timeless wisdom, and I encourage everyone to read the entire book at some point. If you don’t own a Bible, the Internet has lots of online resources, including sites with multiple versions in the public domain. I shall tend to quote from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), which is not in the public domain, but Oremus does have it on their very informative website.
Walk with me this month as I take one chapter of Proverbs each day and distill its wisdom for my 21st century readers. For today, August 1, these three verses from Proverbs 1 spoke to me:
For in vain is the net baited
while the bird is looking on;
yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves!
and set an ambush—for their own lives!
Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors. (Prov 1:17-19, NRSV)
As prosperity is a favorite topic of mine, I tend to zero in on verses that have to do with prosperity and how we either attract it or repel it. These verses highlight the counterproductive side-effect of greed, even taking it to its extreme end of death. And those birds watching us humans set our own traps must shake their tiny heads from side to side in amazement.
I know people like this. Perhaps you do, too. It would be comical to see them pursuing their greed were it not so tragic. I’ve seen people sabotage themselves all the time by getting their priorities crossed. Truth be told, I’ve sabotaged myself upon occasion by focusing more on dollar signs than on what I have to offer to society.
It’s fine to have financial goals—in fact, it’s essential. But it is your service to the greater good that will be rewarded. You have to offer something first, then you get paid. This has always been true, but our culture of entitlement corrupts this equation.
The message in much of Proverbs (and much of the Bible, for that matter) is that “righteousness” is rewarded and “sinfulness” leads to death. Only occasionally do we get a different message, a fuller message, as in the book of Job, where Job is a “righteous dude” who nonetheless has calamity after calamity visited upon him. It is too simplistic, therefore, to say that prosperity will always result from establishing a right relationship with the laws of the universe—which is essentially what righteousness means.
But lasting prosperity is impossible without understanding and obeying the laws of the universe. Greed is counterproductive. Learn to be of service, and your service will (tend to) be rewarded.
Stay tuned for similar insights from the book of Proverbs throughout this month.
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