Building Wealth God’s Way

Imagine if Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and currently richest man in the world gave you business advice. Would you take it? Many people would listen to his advice because they would presume that the wealthiest man in the world must know a little bit about business. After all, he is the richest man in the world.

About three-thousand years ago, the wealthiest man in the world was King Solomon. Some say that he was the richest man of all time. Although, he did not aspire to be wealthy.

History knows King Solomon best as the wisest man of all time who was a prophet of God. The scriptures of the Old Testament tell us that one night after making an offering to God, God came to Solomon in a dream. God said “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you” (1 Kings 3:5, NLT).

Imagine if God came to you and said he would give you anything, what would you ask for; wealth, long life, world peace? We know now from His interaction with Solomon that God admires humility in His people. Solomon summed his request up to God by saying “Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:9, NLT).

God said many things to Solomon that night. However, in His direct response to Solomon’s request He said, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies I will give you what you asked for!”(1 Kings 3:11-12, NLT). God was so pleased with Solomon’s humility that he went on to give Solomon wisdom, wealth and long life.

So, let’s get back to the original question now that you have a little more understanding of the source. Let's put the issue in the time of King Solomon. Imagine that you were a merchant about three thousand years ago. A man that was wealthier than Jeff Bezos of today and a prophet of God gives you this piece of advice to you. “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. (Proverbs 13:11). Would that change your life? What would you do?

Would you buy bitcoin? Would you invest in risky investments? Would you gamble with all of your paychecks? Alternatively, would you spend conservatively and depend upon the profits from your labor to add up over time for your future?

These are not the specific words of Solomon, however here is some simple advice that I think follows the gist of King Solomon’s Proverb. Invest conservatively so as not to put your savings at risk relative to your age. Keep emergency savings available. Protect your paychecks against your injury or illness with disability insurance and protect your family from financial distress by insuring your life. #Advice4Life