One is as it were rich, when he hath nothing: and another is as it were poor, when he hath great riches. Proverbs 13:7
“The poor of the world do not have the luxury of assuming that external things will offer them fulfillment. They don’t have access to them, so they have to find life at a deeper, immediate, and more simple level.”
Richard Rohr in Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go (New York: Crossroad, 2003) 169.
Make purchases today (of things you need), but don’t look for “life” there. People with money are more susceptible to the marketing messages that promise “life” in external things.
We are learning from Solomon (today’s Scripture verse) and from experience that giving generously and having very little money actually positions us to find life in God.