THE DANGER OF PROSPERITY
While prosperity is universally sought, the Bible warns about the all too familiar pattern of prosperity ending up in disaster. In Hosea God reveals the dynamic of this process seen in the history of Israel.
I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.(Hosea 13:5,6)
Four steps are seen in this predictable journey of destruction.
- Failure to recognize God’s provision.God points out that it is he who cared for them, giving them protection and that it is he who fed them. Prosperity has an origin; it is not a random byproduct of contriving circumstances. And that origin ultimately can be traced to God. When people turn to God and choose to be known by his name, he blesses them; prosperity arrives. The first step is to recognize that the origin of all good things is God, and when man fails to do that he sets himself up for failure.
- Satisfaction without gratitude.When good things come man’s way, he is satisfied. There is happiness, excitement and contentment. However when man fails to acknowledge God as the origin of his provisions or quickly forgets that fact, his satisfaction is not interlaced with gratitude. Such satisfaction is only a step away from disaster. The ability to always combine satisfaction with gratitude toward God for the good he has received is a sign of maturity.
- Pride.Hosea quotes God, “—–when they were satisfied, they became proud”.Pride is all about oneself, where man is the measure of all things and the center of the universe. Submission to God which is the original design of the universe is no longer is true. The acknowledgement of God that should characterize a man’s psyche is replaced by self-exaltation. Pride is the original sin that characterized Lucifer’s fall from grace. It is pride that above all else places man on the pathway to disaster.
- Forgetting God.When pride rules over man, God is no longer deemed necessary. Man then forgets God, the very fountain of his life. How can a branch that cuts itself off from the stem of a tree survive? Israel ebbs away from its golden age of David and Solomon, to poverty, enslavement and exile. What began well and held great promise ends up in ruins, with only a shadow of what once was. Prosperity ended in disaster.
