Please don't make me rich

Among the writers of the Old Testament, there’s a little known guy called Agur, who wrote some of the proverbs. In Proverbs 30: 7 - 9, we find Agur pouring out his heart and asking God for two things. Firstly, he prays that he would be a man of integrity and that his life would be kept free of falsehood and lies. Secondly, he prays that he would have sufficient provision to live in financial integrity: in essence, what he says is, “ Please don’t let me be poor, but please don’t make me rich either.”

Agur understood the seductive power of possessions, and knew that the love of money could prove to be a snare for him. And so he prayed that he would not be too poor, which might tempt him to steal... but also that he would not be too rich, which might tempt him to become proud and forget to depend completely on the Lord. This man had a healthy sense of what is “enough” - a characteristic that seems to be sady lacking in our modern generation.

Hundreds of years later, a writer to the early Christian believers urged them to have the same attitude that was found in Agur’s life. Hebrews 13: 5 says, Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, because God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.” Contentment comes largely from knowing that the most precious thing we have is God’s presence with us. Nothing is worth more than that.

So what about you and me? On a rating scale of one to ten, how content are you with what you have in life? And how much do you treasure and seek after the presence of God with you every day of your life?