Classic KJV - Proverbs 10:2

Pray for Proper Profit

If ill-gotten gains do not profit then we should ensure that whatever gains we achieve are legitimate. One way of doing this is to pray that God will guide us in the earning process so that it’s morally and ethically correct. Another way is by simply asking God himself to provide the gains (e.g. good crops) so that we can be sure they are not ill-gotten. Is prayer part of your financial success strategy? Jesus recommends it. “Give us this day our daily bread,” Matthew 6:11. Simple prayers and requests ensure that material assets are not ill-gotten but come from God.

Ethical Business is Better

The text seems to make the case for ethical investing. The business gains from narcotics or other illegal substances, pornography, immoral entertainment, theft, and deceit will yield no ultimate benefit. The same goes for “grey” activities such as downloading music without paying, not reporting “cash payments” on income tax returns, and personal use of company time or materials. Those engaged in such activity certainly disagree. Otherwise they would immediately cease and desist. As the saying goes, “Crime doesn’t pay.” In fact it seems to pay, albeit briefly.

Death by Degrees

Note, the text does not say that righteousness brings financial profit; it delivers from death. The coupling of these two vastly different concepts, wealth and life, implies that they compete for our affection. This trade-off theme of “your money or your life” is common. Clearly there is no profit without life! Riches do a dead man no good.

This death that is avoided by righteousness, may not mean physical death only, but may include depression, weakness, confusion, inner darkness, anxiety, and all similar perils.

Faith-Based Business is Best

How can money be purified? In the strict sense of the word, all humanly generated funds are evil since all descendants of the first Adam are evil by nature. If righteousness is determined by a simple adherence to a moral code, for example the Ten Commandments, then how can we be sure if we have kept them well enough to neutralize our inherent wickedness, lest our efforts are useless. The Bible says, “the righteous shall live by faith,” Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17. Therefore, gains that are not faith-based are not righteous. God requires that those who are righteous live by faith in him as opposed to living by their own moral code yet without God. We chaffe at submission to God.

Every time we venture out in our life of faith, we will find something in our circumstances that, from a common sense standpoint, will flatly contradict our faith. But common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. In fact, they are as different as the natural life and the spiritual. To read more press here.

Our Maker, Saviour, and Friend

If righteousness delivers from death then why do good people die?

Not all people die! The Bible speaks of two who did not die: Enoch and Elijah. Enoch had a uniquely intimate relationship with God for many decades. God decided to exclude Enoch from physical death  (Genesis 5:23,24). Similarly, Elijah's body was taken up to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:11).

Jesus had a different experience en-route to heaven. He died physically, was buried physically and rose from the dead physically.  He, the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) was sinless! His death is the true righteousness that delivers His followers from death itself (John 11:25). For believers in Jesus, physical death of the body is compared to physical sleep for the body (1Thessalonians 4:13).