Wealth

The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.

Let’s key in on the world “painful” here. 

We all know that there are rich people all over the place – those who love the Lord – and those who don’t.   The power to gain wealth (monetarily) seems to be available to those who work hard, or to those who are born into it.  So I’m not sure this verse is referring to money.

Wealth is really an attitude of the heart.  When we are blessed by the Lord (because of his son Jesus) we automatically thrive – and it’s not dependent on excess in our bank account.

I once heard a story of a poor mom and her five kids who lived a long time ago, and were sewing, baking, etc. to raise money for a special need presented at their local church of about 100 people.  The pastor had mentioned there was a needy family in the church, so this mom and her kids worked hard to give.  That Sunday came and they humbly and obediently gave all they had made - $100.  The pastor announced at the end of the service the great offering that was received of $109.00 and he was so pleased.  He then called this very mom to the front to hand her the money.  When she got home, her youngest said, “Mom, I didn’t know we were needy.”

Isn’t that a cool story?  That young child felt rich because his mom was leading the family into a life of giving and loving Jesus. 

Knowing Jesus makes us rich. Period.  And yes, there is no painful toil in order to become rich – because He paid the ultimate price on the cross.