February 16 - Prosperity Thinking

 Read today’s texts first: Leviticus 26 & 27; Acts 23

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

May we never measure our understanding of
God’s will by our degree of comfort.

I love it when there’s harmony between my daily Old Testament and New Testament readings, where each enhances the other.  But I’m also starting to love the rare occasion where there’s apparent incongruence between the two, like today, because it’s in that search for connection when deeper truths are revealed.

Leviticus 26 is about God’s blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.  The blessings seem to imply prosperity: fruitfulness (4), health (5), freedom from enemy oppression (6-8).  The Word-Faith teachers love this stuff!  But when we fast-forward to Paul, we see him faithfully following God’s will and being persecuted by everyone, from Jews to Romans to fellow Christians.  The Word-Faith teachers seem to have problems with Paul.  I remember one article in the Voice of Victory magazine blaming Paul for his chronic “thorn in the flesh,” because he prayed three times instead of claiming his answer the first time.

So are Paul’s difficulties the result of a lack of faith, or worse, disobedience?  That’s where the deeper study proves helpful.  My devotion yesterday settled the ownership question already: prosperity is not about our wealth, health or comfort.  Fruitfulness is about saving souls, not stock options.  Some prosperity teachers measure your spirituality by the size of your Cadillac or the cut of your Armani suit, but even if you are buried in both, neither will arrive with you in heaven.  Paul understood that prosperity was advancing God’s Kingdom, not building his own.  God was allowing Paul’s enemies to provide free transportation and access for Paul to evangelize Rome (11) – now that’s true fruitfulness, freedom and prosperity.

“Lord, may I never measure my understanding of Your will by my degree of comfort.  The prosperity of Your Kingdom is the true and lasting reward of obedience.”