Wealth

https://odb.org/2024/03/15/hated-in-kansas

For most of us who started with humble beginnings, life would have been a struggle in the sense that we ate what was on the table at home. As I was watching a program on top food places in Teluk Intan yesterday, I realized that we rarely ate out when we were growing up. Only once a month, perhaps we ate at a restaurant and called dishes. I have very little recollection of hawker food in Sitiawan and none at all in Pasir Puteh when growing up, although I do remember the RM1 char kuey teow that we sometimes buy at the roadside stall in Simpang Empat. We also seldom buy new clothes, and as I grew older, we did get some hand me downs from friends. I remember working for 3 months in Johor Bahru to buy a nice pair of Adidas shoes in Singapore at circa RM100+. At that time, it was RM1.10 to the Singapore Dollar!

Some of us might be better off now, having accumulated some wealth over the years. The question is, what do we do with our little wealth? We have to prepare for our old age as we still need a roof over our heads and food on the table as we enter our senior years. We may also want to travel more without needing to do too much leave planning (probably none at all!). For travel, it’s best to start when younger as our weaker knees and failing eyesight may deprive us of the full experience when we travel in our golden ages.

I think Ecclesiastes 5:12 is very telling. It says – the sleep of the labourer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. I hope that we will all not have so much wealth that we can not sleep at night worrying about the ROI of our investments or how the value of our money is decreasing annually because of inflation. Solomon then continues in verse 13 – I see a grevious evil under the sun, wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners.

It is indeed tragic if our wealth brings harm to us in the way that too much rich food poisons the body. Instead, why don’t we follow Jesus’s advice not to store riches on earth? Instead, let’s store up riches in heaven where the thief will not steal or the moth and rust will not destroy? Thus, if we have wealth, why don’t we use it to bless others who are in need? We give in accordance with our ability and in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. But I guess we shouldn’t give until we need charity from others. Keep a reasonable amount for our old age and for our children to inherit, but don’t bring too much to the grave!