How To Be Rich DevotionalSample

Honor God When David called the Israelites together in Jerusalem to announce the plan to build the temple, the people were excited. Money started pouring in and their participation was heartfelt. In the midst of all this euphoria, David prayed a prayer that gives us insight into his heart and perspective regarding life, God, and the purpose of money. Through this prayer, we discover the one primary objective that should guide the way we think about and handle our money. This mindset is the key to being good at being rich. "Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor. For everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all." (1 Chronicles 29:11) David was looking back over all that God had taken the Israelites through, and he concluded, "God, this is all about you. Everything belongs to you". Next, he said: "Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all." (1 Chronicles 29:12) From David's perspective, not only did God own all material things, but he was also the source of the things money can't buy - things like honor and power and strength. David's comment was meant to describe everything a person enjoys in life, as well as everything that enables our accomplishments. In short, David was declaring that everything belongs to God, everything comes from God, and everything is dispensed by God. He concluded with this: "Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand." (1 Chronicles 29:13-14) What a perspective! David even considered himself unworthy of the opportunity to be generous. This mindset is just the opposite of what many rich people convey today. In contrast, they seem to say, "This is mine. I worked hard for this, and I'm entitled to do whatever I want with it." So if everything belongs to God, comes from God, and is dispensed by God, what should be the one thing that governs our approach to money? As I think about that prayer, two words come to mind: Honor God. Those two words encapsulate all the things David declared about his riches. If you were to pursue only one goal for everything you possess, this should be it. Honor God. Serve that single objective and everything else automatically falls into place.