Tuesday, November 27 2007

How to be rich – Part 1

1Tim. 1:6:17b – ‘…not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches…’

If you follow the news in the business section or even in the general section, often you will find articles on the topic of ‘how to get rich’ by some famous businessmen or women. But hardly will you find articles on how to be rich. At the same time, the news are full of people who won millions worth of lottery or people who climbed up in their professions but only end up in bankruptcy, divorce, drugs, and other terrible things other than happy and enjoying their wealth. Truth is – getting rich is much easier than being rich.

Paul affirms that being rich requires an attitude that embraces the fact that the value of wealth and possessions in this world is so uncertain. Stock and housing market went up and down like the mercury in a thermometer. The value of money itself is no exception. Values of wealth cannot be confined with, in, or on anything – they are ever changing.

This attitude is so important to Paul because we, humans, have the tendency to set our hopes on riches among other things. We always think that the accumulation of wealth carries a certain weight that can sustain and secure our lives. But if our source of security is so uncertain, what kind of security are we looking at? By doing so, the result would be catastrophic in our lives. Being rich requires a greater attitude of heart – putting hope not on all you have accumulated because they have very little value of certainty in this world.