Riotous Living

(Proverbs 13:7 KJV)  There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

The word “maketh” (pretends NASB) is not in the Hebrew.  It is an attempt to explain the concept from another language.  In English we do no have a verb to “rich” (6238).  The same applies to “poor” (7326).  The KJV is a little more vague and I think gives us a valuable nuance.  Many people like to live like they are rich.  I see it everywhere I go.  I have seen it in my own family.  It is the secret of the success of many companies.  People shop where the cool people shop.  They wear clothes with logos.  When kids realize I am wearing a Pro Club T-shirt, they are impressed.

How does this work out for them?  They end us with “nothing” (369/3605) which is a compound word meaning without the whole.  What they do is waste the wealth that God provides them with and squander it for the joy of the moment.  Read about the Prodigal Son.  He had it all.  What did he do with it?

(Luke 15:13 KJV)  And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

When I see commercials with all the young and beautiful models drinking and laughing I am seeing the picture of riotous living.  It is not the way to prosperity.

So?  Be wary of the lure of the “good life”.  It may satisfy for the moment but it will leave you short at the end.