Proverbs 30:7-9

March 29 – Proverbs 30:7-9

“Give me neither poverty nor riches….”  What a thing to ask for. Most of us would probably ask for riches. There are whole branches of heretical Christianity that promote a prosperity Gospel that basically says that God will give you all sorts of riches… if your faith is strong enough.

But Agur son of Jakeh, here in Proverbs, is asking to be middle class. Not poor, nor rich. He just asks for his daily bread. “The food that is needful for me.” Why? He figures if he is rich, he won’t feel like he needs God and if he is poor he might break the commandment to not steal and thus profane God’s name.

We see this play out in real life. When someone is rich, they often think they are good without God. They can take care of themselves.  Christianity has nothing to offer them. Forgetting, of course, that everything comes from God (and He can take it away). And in the end, wealth is meaningless. Rust and moths and thieves can get to earthly treasure and when you die, you can’t take it with you.

When someone is poor, they feel it is necessary to steal to survive or get into criminal or other unsavory business to provide for themselves. Their hearts become hard and they stray far from God. Both wealth and poverty can make it more difficult to follow the LORD.

So we ask for our daily bread, nothing more, nothing less. And God, who graciously supplies all good things, will richly and daily pour out his blessings. Grant us, dear Father, neither poverty nor riches.