Consciously or unconsciously, they make the most of this life by striving harder towards attaining prosperity, for it is prosperity that enables them to buy and enjoy the better things of this life such as flashy cars, edifices, nice vacations, fame, etc.
Christians share their time between serving God and engaging in other relevant things in life such as their occupation; and they manage their time properly to fulfill their spiritual resposiblity and to engage in other activities of life. However, it is not so with the wicked and sinner. Since the wicked do not acknowledge God, nor allot his time to Him, they can choose to allot all their time to work in a bid to make more money.
So whiles the Christian ceases to make money by taking a break off the job to serve his God, the wicked, unbelievers and sinners are doing more overtime to expand their business and make more money. Frunkly, quite a lot of rich folks out there see serving God as a waste of time; they would rather spend their time on the job which pays off in prosperity.
Since the happiness, comfort, and success of the wicked and unbelievers depends on financial prosperity, they are very dedicated to the things that bring them such prosperity.
In fact, we can say that their occupation is their god; and normally, they reap the benefit of their dedication to their occupation in monetary terms. Certain good values such as hard work are not unique to Christians; the wicked and unbelievers can choose to be hardworking too and they will reap the profit thereof. Therefore, when a person who does not fear God chooses to be hardworking and persevering in his business, normally, it translates to his success and his prosperity.
The righteous man, whether he is an employer or an employee, he would have to deal fairly and honestly with others in doing business. More so, the righteous should not engage in illegitimate businesses, nor practice ungodliness in the name of making money; by so doing, God would bless him to prosper.
It is not so with the wicked; the wicked have many doors or paths or means to prosperity. Since no fear of God is in the wicked, they can choose to use fair and legit means to proper, or they can choose to use foul means to prosper; or they can choose to use a combination of both fair and foul means to prosper; they choose whichever of these three they deem fit.
Think about it; many prosperous wicked people and unbelievers make their riches through:. In short, the wicked would do whatever it takes in order to come into great riches without considering the morality of it; as for the righteous, he fears to do any of these evil things because of the fear of the Lord. The faith of the righteous should stand the test of time. Sometimes, God allows the righteous to go through the trials of suffering, whereas, He makes the wicked prosper; this he does to test the faith of the righteous.
It was God who let His righteous servant Job go through trials and temptation at the hands of the devil. The devil reduced Job to abject poverty and plagued him with diseases to make him suffer. Whenever the wicked prospers, the faith of the righteous is put to the test whether they would faithfully follow the Lord and the path of righteousness or they would backslide to join the ranks of the wicked and sinners.
One man of God called Asaph, nearly failed this test; if it was not for God who intervened and saved him, he would have apostatized. During his time, Asaph saw the prosperity of the wicked and it hurt him so much to see that the wicked who do not fear God were prospering. This led him to regret being a righteous man, thinking that all his endeavors to pursue the course of righteousness was in vain, for he would have prospered by far if he had been a wicked man. At some point, Asaph wanted to apostatize.
But God intervened and revealed to him the end of the wicked. Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.
For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? And then he realized the foolishness of his jealousy. Of envying those who endure but for a moment and then are gone. In the end what have they gained?
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Asaph realized that while good things might happen to bad people now, it will not continue. And while he might not enjoy some of the prosperity that this world cherishes today, he had something much greater.
And not just for this life. In the end, when the wicked would be punished, he would be taken into glory. Into the very presence of God. And once he realized that, he returned to God. There was nothing this earth had to offer that could top his relationship with God, both present and future. The wicked may prosper for a short time. But God was his portion forever. As it was in the days of Asaph, so it is today.
Not all of the wicked prosper. And not all believers suffer. But it is awfully easy to think that the wicked are in general better off in this world. What they have is only passing. In the end their prosperity will be left behind. It will be only like a barely remembered dream. They deserve your pity rather than your envy.
Put your hope in God. He will always be with you. Now and through eternity.
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