By
Nina Ditoro
Two
things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die):
Remove
falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches- Feed me
with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who
is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.
(Proverbs 30: 7-9)
When
I was in high school, I sometimes ask my sister, Sandy,
to proof my papers for my English class. As I had a tendency to be rather
wordy, it was not uncommon for me to find that she had
written this quote at the end of the paper: “Less is more and more is
less.” Over the years, I have not only found that
thought appropriate for my writing, but also in other areas of my life. Many
times, less is just better.
Many
people dream of having great riches. It seems it is almost human nature to
continually think, “Well, if I just had ____, I would be happy.” Yet if
you observe those who are rich with this world’s goods, many seem to be
extremely and pitifully miserable. It seems that often, the more THINGS a
person obtains, the more THINGS he or she wants. People without faith in God
and confidence in His providence often fall into the sad life of seeking
more and more wealth, fame, position, etc...
The
main writer of the book of Proverbs, Solomon, had all these things in great
abundance. Yet he, being a wise man, and through the inspiration of God, was
able to see that happiness is not derived from these things. He observed:
There
is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself
poor, yet has great riches. (Proverbs 13:7)
Better
is a little with the fear of the Lord, Than great treasure with trouble.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, Than a fatted calf with hatred.
(Proverbs 15:16-17)
Better
is a little with righteousness,Than vast revenues without justice. (Proverbs
16:8)
Better
is a dry morsel with quietness,Than a house full of feasting with strife.
(Proverbs 17:1)
It
would not be correct to believe that having very little automatically will
equal a life of happiness, or that having a lot would be a curse. It is
instead the attitude with which we face our lives and
our faith in God that will determine how happy we are (Phil.
4:10-13).
If we fear God and have faith in Him, our lives will be truly blessed (Prov.
3:5-6, Ec.12:13).
The
Lord is my shepherd;
I
shall not want.
He
makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He
leads me beside the still waters.
He
restores my soul;
He
leads me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake.
Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I
will fear no evil;
For
You are with me;
Your
rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You
anoint my head with oil;
My
cup runs over.
Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And
I will dwell in the house of the lord forever.
--Psalm
23
