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I love this illustration representing prosperity versus “want”. Many of us have been so blessed by God in what we have, the families we come from, and having good health in our genes that we never understand what it means to “suffer” or to produce something from pure grit, pain, and hard work.

The Bible is full of illustrations and promises regarding how blessings come at a “cost”.  Many Christians who get caught up in extreme “prosperity gospel” doctrines bypass the “cause and effect” of God’s natural laws in this universe of causality. You can see it every day on some Christian TV, radio, or online podcast shows wherein some “anointed prophet” is telling you that by faith “you can have your best life now”. According to them, being a follower of Christ somehow entitles you to wealth and health with no work on your part being necessary.  If you believe hard enough (and send them some money), you can have anything your heart and mind can imagine. That is the “American Gospel”.

I would suggest that believers who follow these doctrines will end up like the mouse in the illustration. They will keep consuming “God’s blessings” until they run out at which point they will end up at the bottom of the jar with nothing more to eat or consume. They will die spiritually…and maybe physically…and have no clue who and how they were provided for.  The narcissism of this false gospel is obvious.

God’s real commandments to Christians are that we are to share in the sufferings of Christ whom we are to follow and emulate. What does that mean?  It means, do not live for the things of this world. Sure, it’s nice to have some “things”, but we are to own them as blessings from God that we are willing to sacrifice or do without at a moment’s notice.  We are not to be owned by “things”.

Now there is no commandment or instruction I have found in the Bible that says we cannot be blessed financially or physically, and we have nothing to apologize to anyone for experiencing that in this world. The problem arises when those “things” control or are the meaning of our temporal lives. Those who “have” are to be willing to GIVE of what they have. Things are not to be hoarded nor be a source of pride…that sin called the “pride of life”. “Oh thank you Lord that I was not born like THAT person”. Do we balk at relating and ministering to the “unlovely” versus spending our time and energies pursuing the beautiful, rich, and famous? Maybe it’s time for a spiritual “gut check”!?

The truth is, all the temporal “beauty” of this world will fade away and burn. Why would we spend any time idolizing beautiful or talented people, knowing that within a few decades they will be aged and sickly like any other living creature who is under the curse of sin? As Solomon said, “Vanity, all is vanity”. Vain deceit or idolization of all that will burn up soon is simply a waste of our time and adulation.

Instead, Scripture is full of instruction on how to be productive and to trust God to provide our needs WHEN and IF we have shown ourselves as faithful stewards of what He has already provided us. Those who have been very blessed have MORE accountability to God for what they were given than the average “Joe”. It is often a bigger cross to bear in life when we have been granted many financial or physical blessings…because God WILL require more of us who have prospered.

While disaster strikes rich and poor alike, I think it is more difficult for rich people to lose their fortunes than the poor person who never had much to lose in the first place. I love to read stories of those who overcame much adversity and attained reasonable success, but the glory and excitement of the story are always in the battles won and lost that led to that success. I used to say, “no striving? no thriving”. We learn more through suffering and trials than we do at an awards ceremony.

As for the Christian charlatans who always preach prosperity over sacrifice, I don’t think they heard or read anything Jesus said. I don’t remember Jesus saying “blessed are the rich and proud”. Instead, He said:

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12

Living by faith doesn’t mean we will attain wealth or always have health in THIS life. Instead, faith is to be our guide no matter what challenges we are facing in life. The true heroes to me in this life are those who have done much with little. True heroes sacrifice their time and energy to help those in distress and need. True heroes consider others more important than themselves. THESE are the attributes of true giants in the faith, those who are willing to give ALL they have for the cause of Christ and His New Kingdom that is coming. In this regard, I hold Deitrich Bonhoeffer and Watchmen Nee in much higher regard than sensationalist post-modern tele-evangelists.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). If our eyes are focused on what we are consuming and the passions of our temporal flesh, we will soon find ourselves like the little mouse who has eaten himself into a pit of selfishness he cannot escape. In our spiritual lives, if we are always consuming God’s blessings but unwilling to empty ourselves for others in a full cycle of blessing, we will eventually find ourselves in a dark, empty jar of self-righteousness and a vacuous spirit.

We should never consume or ASSUME more than we need to survive. God has promised to meet all of our NEEDS, not all of our WANTS. The fruits of God’s spirit in your life show up when you want more for others than you want for yourself. The secret of being full of God’s presence is when we are empty of ourselves. Only when we lay down our lives at the foot of His cross can we truly know what it means to be content in Christ and full of His spirit. There’s not much glory or praise from others in that pursuit.

A truly blessed life is when we can say along with the Apostle Paul, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 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. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:11-13).

I am now of the conviction that if I am NOT struggling at something, I have grown too content with myself. If I have too much, I have not given away enough. I hope I will never be that content because the danger will be finding myself at the bottom of that jar having done nothing to store up treasures for my eternal life. After all, the future is more important than my present trials or past failures. Gluttony of the moment can lead to missing the future potential we have.

The secret I believe is that if we appreciate the blessings we have and yet are willing and able to part with them, we will then be ready to face any struggle that comes our way.  The word is clear that struggle is to be our way of life. We are to toil. We are to seek. We are to labor. Those struggles will lead to the blessings of God’s many promises to us, and most of those promises are not based on this short carnal life. The blessing comes in sacrificing for others and expecting the best of ourselves for the eternal life that is promised.

Embrace your struggles and be blessed during the process, knowing that you will not “arrive” at full abundance until that trumpet sounds.