Just a Little Bit More

(Proverbs 16:8 KJV)  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

We need to understand that often we only have a choice of the “better” (2896a), not the best.  Often the better will be the best, but they also may be different.  This also seems to point out that we really have two choices, not many:  God’s way or our way. 

How much is a “little” (4592)?  We Americans are so consumed with consumption.  We think we are at the poverty level if our car doesn’t have electric windows.  It always irritates me when people from a poor country are characterized as poverty stricken because then live on $3.00 a day.  They don’t live in Manhattan.  They live somewhere that makes it possible to live on $3.00 a day or we would be saying they die on $3.00 a day.  They may not have electricity, but neither did your great grandparents.  They may not have television, but neither did your grand parents.  They may not have a computer, but neither did their parents.  They may not have the latest I-pad, but neither do you.  If you live in a farm community, grow your own food, barter for many of your necessities and have no income tax it is possible to have $3.00 a day and feel like you are doing well.

The issue is your attitude toward what you have.  A quote attributed to many different people is, “How much money does it take to live well?  Just a little more.”  The issue here is not so much how much money we have but how we use it.  If you are reading this, you are among the financially blessed of the earth.  Do you act righteously or with injustice.  Are you a steward of God’s gifts to you.

So?  Be satisfied with what you have.  Don’t stop working.  Don’t stop saving.  Don’t stop planning for the future but do it all with your eye on righteousness and bringing a smile to the face of our Heavenly Father.