HE WHO GATHERS MONEY LITTLE BY LITTLE

HE WHO GATHERS MONEY LITTLE BY LITTLE

KEY VERSE: Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. PROVERBS 13:11

SCRIPTURE LESSON: PROVRBS 13:11 DEUTERONOMY 7:22-23
PROVERBS 13:11 Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.

DEUTERONOMY 7:22 The LORD you God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.

INTRODUCTION
Many people think that there is nothing wrong with making money without hard and honest labour. The mentality seems to be that how people acquire their wealth is not very important. People therefore assume that there is nothing wrong with making money through gambling, drug trafficking, corruption in offices and even armed robbery.
However, we have to note that if God is the ultimate one who gives wealth (Pr 8:21; 10:22) then he must have some principles for growing it. This week’s lesson shows that the Bible does not encourage this get-rich quick attitude which does not involve honest and hard work.

EXPOSITION
Wealth is a blessing from God (1Ki 3:13; Pr 8:18; Pr 10:22). But most often the wealth that God bestows on people comes by natural means. God will bless the ordinary honest labour of people’s hands. The case of God’s blessing of wealth to Issac came from the ordinary farming practices that he engaged in:
Issac planted crops in that land and the same
year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD
blessed him. The man became rich, and his
wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.
We also not that the blessings of Abraham and Jacob came to them as God promised, but they all inherited the promised wealth from hard honest labour and good planning. Wealth that is not the result of honest and hard labour is said to be ill-gotten and therefore dies not attract God’s blessing, which makes the wealth permanent.
It is interesting to note that such wealth does not last partly for lack of proper management in anticipation of the wealth. But the wealth that is gathered little by little does not overtake the management of the increase, so it is not lost quickly.
The management of wealth gotten little by little can be compared to the driving out of the nations before Israel little by little. It must be noted that the reason why God drove the nations away little by little (Deut 7:22) was that he wanted to arrest the situation where the land would become desolate for the wild animals to be too numerous for Israel to control (Ex. 23:28-30).

How Does the Bible Define Dishonest Money?
Proverbs 13:11 defines dishonest money as money gotten rapidly and not little by little, that is not from honest labour. Such monies would include monies gained through any of the following:
1. Lotteries and other forms of gambling
2. Monies gotten by means that are not approved by law, and are thus criminal (Pr 10:2). In the Ghanaian context such means would be monies gotten through dealing in drugs like cocaine, Indian hemp and other forms of drug peddling. Wealth acquired through armed robbery and corruption in office like the taking of bribes, over-invoicing and the taking of cuts over contracts awarded. Though such criminal means of wealth creation appear to be fast, Psalm 62:10 informs: “Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them” because they do not last and most often lead to quick deaths (Prov 10:2)
For John Wesley dishonest money is money acquired by means that are injurious to one’s health, the heath of other or the well being of society. That is why Methodist Christians do not have to trade in alcohol.

How Is Wealth To Be Created?
The Book of Proverbs showcases the way of accessing wealth that is both satisfying and fulfilling. The book show that wealth that is good comes by hard and honest labour. Prov. 10:4 says: Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Prov 6:10-11 also confirms this: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. The idea that wealth can be created without honest and hard labour therefore is not a teaching of the Bible.

Let us consider the following example of how wealth can be created little by little. If a petty trader is able to save 20Gp daily he or she would have saved GH¢6.20 in a month, in a year, they would have saved GH¢74 (¢740,000). If they put this in a money growing investment for ten years and do not stop the savings for the ten years, they would have saved at least GH¢888 (¢8,880,000), at an interest rate of even 7%. They would have added an amount in the neighbourhood of at least GH¢40 to bring their savings to about GH¢1000 without stress, because 20Gp can conveniently be put aside daily by many Ghanaians today.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What do you understand by dishonest wealth?
2. Drug pushers also work very hard to get their drugs to the consumers and out of the country. Do you think that the wealth they create is dishonest? Explain your answer.
3. Dishonest wealth slips through the fingers, and those who go after them lose their lives quickly.
i. Have you seen or heard of anybody about whom this has happened in real life?
ii. Why do people still go after dishonest wealth?
4. How does God bless hones labour?
5. Discuss how Credit Unions and other Investment bodies can help to create wealth. A credit union member may be called upon to give a testimony.

BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
This week spend sometime looking at the work you do for a living.
1. Draw up a plan on how by saving small amounts at a time, you can accumulate enough to achieve you life’s dreams. Pray about it and put it into effect as soon as possible in the new year
2. Resolve in prayer to live the new year in ways that will always be pleasing to the Lord. You may revisit your vows of the Covenant Service found in the Book of Offices section of the Methodist Hymn Book.
3. Does your church have a Credit Union? Are you a member and how is it helping you to achieve your dreams?
4. A credit union member may be called upon to give a testimony.

DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Genesis 12:1-3 God Blesses the Obedient
Tuesday James 5:1-5 Be Fair to you Employers
Wednesday Proverbs 10:3-5 Diligent Hands Bring Wealth
Thursday Luke 12:16-21 Honour God with your Riches
Friday Zephaniah 1:12-13 Don’t be Complacent
Saturday Revelation 3:17-18 Buy God From the Lord
Sunday Ecclesiastes 5:10-13 Don’t Love Money