Copyright 2015 J. Neely
Psalm 37:16
16 A little [m@`at] that a
righteous man [tsaddiyq] hath is better [towb] than the riches [hamown] of
many [rab] wicked [rasha`]. KJV-Interlinear
16 Better is the little that the righteous
has than the abundance of many wicked. ESV
The righteous
person, using the complete definition of righteous, is the spiritually mature
person, or one who has advanced in their spiritual life by means of learning
Bible doctrine, using doctrine, and all while living in fellowship, which is the
environment of the spiritual life.
But too, the word
for righteous can be applied to salvation, by distinguishing a saved person
from an unsaved person.
And, it can also
be applied to believers in Christ by distinguishing a productive or advancing Christian
from one who is not advancing in their spiritual life.
Wickedness
typically describes anyone who lives outside of the spiritual realm.
It can be applied to
an unbeliever, for by definition, all unbelievers are wicked as they have no
spiritual life or resources.
It can be used to
describe a believer who lives a pattern of life out of fellowship. Fellowship is the environment of the
spiritual life. So, living out of
fellowship means living outside of the spiritual environment.
Now for our verse.
In this world,
possessions are usually defined in terms of value or wealth or what you can
see, touch, smell, and so forth, or more appropriately, things that you have or
possess.
And the things of
this world are generally valued more than the things of the spiritual realm,
which you cannot see or measure.
So, the righteous
have faith or doctrine, and the wicked value things.
But things, last
only as long as your life here in this world.
While doctrine, or faith, lasts forever.
Suppose you are a
billionaire and you live for 100 years, then you die.
As a billionaire
you will live pretty good in this world.
No argument there. But when you
die, the tables change. Your worth is measured
in terms of your spiritual status. If
you have not believed in Christ, then you face all of eternity in the Lake of Fire. And 100 years now, is nothing when compared
to eternity. So that would not be a good
trade to have the good life now and then torments forever.
The same is
similar for believers who lack spiritual resources. To emphasize possessions now, or to resist
spiritual growth, over legitimate spiritual growth, means that you will die one
day and then stand before the Lord.
Christ will look at you and give your evaluation based on your spiritual
resources, production and so forth, which determines your eternal reward. If
you have nothing, no spiritual growth that is, then your reward is little if at
all. You live in heaven, but with no
reward.
And rewards in
heaven are measured by their eternal lifespan, which, if you have nothing, then
you will have nothing for a long time.
So that is a huge loss. Infinity
times something is big. Infinity times
nothing is zero no matter how you calculate it.
So, better to have
your spiritual life now, and then huge reward and much more for all of eternity,
than to have all of the wealth in this world now and nothing for all of eternity.
The wealth of the
world is fixed and temporary. The wealth
of eternity is infinite and beyond measure.
Even billions or trillions now, are no comparison to infinity.
The best situation
would of course be a billionaire now and a spiritually mature believer. That gives you the best of now and eternity.
But, that is not going
to happen for most of us. So we are left
with the only investment that is available to us, for a wonderful eternity, and
that investment is by learning and utilizing doctrine and advancing to
spiritual maturity, now, while we can.
Before you were
born into this world, you did not have any say as to how your life would be.
What you have now, is what you were dealt, as it were.
But, as to
eternity, you have every opportunity now, to define a phenomenal life for
yourself, if you get with a daily study, and learn, and grow up in your spiritual
life.
By pursuing your
daily studies, you have everything to gain.
By doing nothing, you have only yourself to blame for your loss.
