Psalm 144: ¹² May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace. ¹³ May our barns be filled, with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, ¹⁴ and may our cattle be heavy with young. 

This is a request from King David for God to bless the people with material abundance. Nothing wrong with that. Just like many of us human parents like to spoil our children once in a while, so does our heavenly Father. We can trust the Lord to make sure we have what we need. Jesus said it this way, “Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear… First seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well”. (Matthew 6:25-34)

What I find interesting is that Jesus and his followers did not enjoy vast material wealth as is described in our passage for today. Nor do I get the impression Jesus desired it. It just wasn’t that important to Jesus, unless it was needed to provide for others – as in feeding 5,000 people with a few fish and loaves of bread. Jesus trusted God to provide for his needs and that of his followers and God never let him down.

That said, do not be fooled brothers and sisters should you hear a Christian preacher make blanket promises of material wealth for Christians. Does God give wealth to Christians in some cases? Of course. And hopefully those wealthy believers give a good portion of it away for the sake of the gospel. But other believers are called to a life with few material resources. I can think of no better example than Jesus himself.

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving to your children all that we need, whether a lot or a little. Teach us to be grateful for all we have, receiving all things as a gift from you. And give us grace to be generous to others as the opportunity arises. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.