Thursday, April 10

Praying for Balance

Thursday, April 10

Proverbs 30: 8-9

Paul Newman created in 1982 the benevolent food company “Newman’s Own” which gives away 100% of its profit. A couple of years ago, the organization eclipsed $600 million in distributed gifts, from its inception. The gifted actor commenting some time ago about the company’s success said, “I would have kept some for myself if I had known it would make so much money.” He may have been kidding, but if not, do you think he really needed more money?

We are clueless who the author of Proverbs 30 was.  Well, we do know he was “Agur son of Jakeh.…” Other than that, we don’t know when, where, or contextually who this father and son team was. But the prayer of Agur asked for integrity and balance, and the prayer connected the dots between wealth and deception and faith.

Keep deception and lies far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, so that I will not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”
And that I will not become impoverished and steal, And profane the name of my God.

Agur saw the risk at the ends of the bell curve of wealth for the growth of deception. Poverty risked theft or deception to survive; excessive wealth risked the same sins for the sake of gaining more.  (Luke 12) The temptation to feel insecure when we are trusting money — not God — to provide and sustain us is ever-present because such trust is misplaced. It is not really the amount of money (God’s resources) we are entrusted with managing which becomes the risk factor; it is simply forgetting that the money is “entrusted” to us by God as His stewards. Judas did not seem to be poor, yet he coveted 30 pieces of silver, and he ignored “Who is the Lord?”

The food that “is my portion,” seems like “daily bread.” Agur was motivated by faith. In all circumstances, he wanted his faith in Yahweh to be goal of the balanced amount of money he had.  Have you and I ever prayed to have the right amount of money to bless our faith? Would it be more or less?

Jesus did not have a home. After He had retired as a carpenter, He was sustained by the faithful who provided enough for the disciples to be sustained in mission. He died penniless and naked on a tree, paying for the excesses, deception of all others who lived for themselves. As He was dying, He was looking forward to a paradise constructed and paid for by God. “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:28)