Does Jesus want you to be rich?

So read the title of an article in The Week magazine last week, reporting on the growing popularity of the so-called ‘Prosperity Gospel’. One speaker is quoted as saying: “Get your calculators out, I know this is going to beep your horn.”
OK, so what are we to make of this?
Does Jesus want to bless us / do us good? Yes He does.
Does our heavenly Father promise to take care of us & provide for us? Yes, He does.
Might that include financial and material provision? Yes it might.
Does that always include financial and material provision, thus making it my right? Ah, there’s the crunch.
In the Old Testament, God’s blessings were most often material, so the measure of how blessed a man was, could be seen by the number of sheep and camels he possessed. However, even in the Old Testament there’s clear warning not to equate God’s blessing solely with riches, since God may, for his own reasons choose to withdraw them for a higher purpose. See Job and Joseph, for instance.
Coming into the New Testament you could say that you find almost the exact opposite. The blessings that Jesus won for us on the cross are far more significant (and lasting) than cash and cows! Jesus has made us righteous, made us alive with abundant, eternal life, given us a hope and a future, AND promised us that His grace, His undeserved, loving favour and provision, will always be more than sufficient. So WHATEVER circumstances we find ourselves in, wealth & abundance or jail, shipwreck & beatings, as in the case of the apostle Paul, we can experience the priceless gift of His gracious presence and provision for the moment – and that’s something that no financial market can take away!
That’s how Paul & Silas could sing in prison! That’s how Paul was able to boast: ‘I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.’ Philippians 4:12

So yes, call on God & trust Him for all your needs. Enjoy ALL the benefits God gives you, including the material things. Be generous with what He entrusts you with. But don’t equate His blessing with wealth – and don’t give with the motive of wanting to get rich, because that sounds to me very much like the love of money – and that is sin.

Last word…

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Goff