Dr. Stieglitz
Jun 15, 20172 min
Proverbs 15:6
"Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, but trouble is in the income of the wicked
great wealth is in the house of the righteous"
The word wealth is the Hebrew word hosen which means treasure, wealth, strength. It is important to note that not all righteous people are wealthy in material possessions, but they do have treasure.
There are all kinds of wealth in the house of the righteous: Relational wealth; Intellectual wealth; Material wealth; Wealth of good will; Political wealth; Spiritual Wealth; Emotional Wealth.
One of the key things that righteous people enjoy is relational wealth. Because their orientation is to serve others, there are strong bonds of love and care built between people. Never discount the enormous wealth of great relationships with family and friends. It is the strength of these relationships, along with God, that really make life worth living.
When one is truly righteous and wise, then they build rather than spend selfishly. They have treasure to give and do not move at impulse to spend whatever comes in.
trouble is in the income of the wicked
Remember that the basic definition of wickedness in the Proverbs is that which is outside of the Ten Commandments: another god, idolatry, cursing or oaths of allegiance to another god, refusal to have reverent rest, rebellion against God-given authority, murder and hatred, adultery and lasciviousness, stealing, false statements, deceptions and lies; covetousness of others’ goods.
When I gain through going outside the moral boundaries of the Ten Commandments, then I trouble my house. That type of fortune will haunt me until I have no taste for the supposed good life it will buy. We cannot be undiscerning about where our wealth is coming from. It does matter where it comes from and whether it had to make a trip to the immoral side of the street to get into our pocket. The world is more than just a materialistic composite; our actions and reactions and creations have metaphysical components to them.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz