PEARL OF WISDOM:

“Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

PROVERBS 23:20-21

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WHEN BLESSINGS FLOW YOUR WAY do you consume them them while the gettin’s good? Or do you find a way to let them move through you and towards the work of the Lord? Your answer has the power to stop the flow of abundance or increase it.

One problem with the popular Law of Attraction is that it teaches people to desire more blessings instead of teaching us to desire more of God. Its advocates instruct us to imagine how it will feel to have the object of our desire as a means to attract it. So when the blessings come, we think we’ve reached the finish line – a victory! But when the celebration ensues, and the blessings are consumed, all we are left with is emptiness, a feeling of poverty and depression.

Today’s Pearl of Wisdom highlights the behavior of gluttons and drunks. Harsh labels, but interesting to note the dynamic at play in the lives of those who eat or drink to excess. Both seek escape and satisfaction from things which do not satisfy and never deliver. This leaves them needing more and more. And the very stuff they feel they need is the stuff that blocks the flow.

And before we can say, “That’s not us,” we should reflect more deeply.

Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) He also said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

Being pure of heart means holding just one thing as your heart’s desire. For Christians, this is the desire to be in closer relationship with God. When this desire is the central driving force of your life, the true nature of blessings are revealed.

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Blessings are a means to an end. Not an end in and of themselves.

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They are meant to to bring you and others into a closer walk with God. God gives them in order to reveal more of Himself to the world who starves not so much for food and drink but for His presence. We are called to focus not on the blessing, but on the Blessing-Giver, and to see His heart through the gift.

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INSIGHT TO ACTION

Ask yourself this moment: When you pray, are you envisioning all that you will do with the blessings you request, or are you praying to discern all that God would like to do through you with those blessings?

When you pray for blessings and abundance, are you praying from a place of lack and fear? Or are your prayers spilling forth from a knowledge of God’s greatness, mercy, power and provision – in other words, out of a faith in Who God says He is.

When God grants us abundance, let’s overcome our inclination to consume it, and look for ways to use it to further His purposes.

And as much as we can, let’s try to hold God central in our desires as we unblock the flow of abundance and become a river of blessings that reach His people.

Amen.

Many Blessings!

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PROVERBS SERIES

This post is part of a Series exploring wisdom from The Book of Proverbs. Many great leaders have made a habit of reading a chapter of Proverbs a day – convenient since there are 31 chapters in all. Solomon, the book's author, was known as the wisest man in history, whose first and highly rewarded action as Israel's King was to ask God for the wisdom to lead we