Balance to Bank On

(Proverbs 10:15 KJV)  The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

After you read through Proverbs a few times you see some patterns developing.  You notice that most verses stand alone, but not all.  Many, or most, times you see a contrasting couplet where the two phrases give opposites.  Here you see two phrases but I think it is a restatement in different terms.  The common factors are money and how it effects us.

In this verse we have a warning for both the “rich” (6223) and the “poor” (1800b):  Don’t let your financial situation shape your attitudes and values.  Both the rich and the poor tend to hide behind their bank balance.  One hunkers down, the other makes excuses.  Neither financial condition is a sin.  Both stances toward a life of faith are. 

So?  I would love to be in a situation where I did not need to balance my bank statement each month.  It isn’t going to happen in this life.  I will never be able to hide behind my wealth.  I am in danger of living in fear because I don’t know what will happen with health care, taxes and terrorism.  I choose to walk in faith.