Good morning. Really appreciative this morning of our music team. Thanks for leading us and so grateful to Bethany for leading our music team. And I just helping us to come before the President of the Lord and really worship him. So it's a wonderful opportunity. This morning we continue with our study on the Book of Proverbs and we are looking at chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. So if you're able, would you please stand with me as we read, as we honor the reading of God's Word. This is what the Wise King says, verses 19 and 20, whoever works his land will have plenty of bread. But he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. A faithful man or woman will abound with blessings. But whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. The word of the Lord this morning may he guide us as we hear it and may he lead us to not only just hear it but be doers of what he's calling us to. Please be seated. I've said many times and I'm sure you've heard a little bit of my story that I grew up in a farm. And so growing up in a farm, you learn so many things. And one of those things that you get to learn so quick given at a young age, and especially for me, was that farming is not an easy job. It's a very difficult thing, especially if we're talking about farming back in the day or farming in my village as I remember it. You see, farming is such a mundane, tedious, difficult thing that requires a lot of patience, that requires a lot of diligence, that requires a lot of just simply waiting. I'm not just on what you are doing, but what God is going to do. And I remember working the farm who would wake up so early in the morning in the sweltering heat of the northern, the eastern part of Kenya, getting up as early as possible before the sun would rise. And we would begin or the process would start by preparing the farm. Obviously, if you're going to plant seed, you have to prepare something. And so you have to prepare the soil so that when the rains come and you're ready to plant the soil is ready with the seeds. But then after preparing that, we had to wait. We had to pray or we had to trust those who knew the Lord that God would actually shower the grounds with water, with rain. So we would all be waiting and looking for that one particular sign when we would see the clouds beginning to darken. There was a sign of rain. And when you see that, you wait for a few more weeks just to make sure that the rains are really going to come. And when they do come, you begin the planting process. But even with that, you plant and the crops begin to grow. And once they're just growing just a little bit, the work doesn't stop. I mean, it's a long, long process because you still have to keep watching over the crops as they're growing. You have to make sure that they're no weeds. You have to make sure that they're no pests. And if they are, what are you going to do about that? And you have to continue working the garden. The work does not stop. But even after the crops have grown, it's still another process. When they are ready, we still have to wait for the Lord to stop the rains so that we can harvest because you're not going to harvest as the rains are still pouring down on your crop. And so this morning, we have an analogy that talks about someone who is working their land. Or we can say, someone is working their farm. Well, we are not farmers. None of us, I don't think anyone of us is a farmer here. But we can apply this in our own lives. And I ask all of us this morning, I don't know where you are. You know, you might be a parent. You might be a self-employed person. You might be employed at a company or whatever, a stay-home mom or looking for a job or whatever you are. In what ways are you remaining faithful where you are as you wait, as you work, as you go about your daily business? In what ways are you being faithful? And as we shall see from this passage, we will look at this man or this woman who is working their garden by being faithful with what the Lord has them. But also by trusting the Lord to provide for them. So the first thing I want us to look at is actually by going back to verses 19 and see how we can be or we can remain faithful in what we're doing. Verse 19 says, wherever works his land will have plenty of bread. But he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. And so Solomon is describing one who works his land as opposed to one who follows this worthless pursuits. One stays, the one who works the land or the one who stays in the land. The other one leaves to look for something, probably something better so it seems or maybe they think it is something better. And so we get the idea that the one who is working the land like I described the analogy of a farmer is someone who's just doing something that seems mundane and tedious and attractive work that you probably wouldn't think is too important. But we cannot miss the contrast that we see in this passage and the word play of plenty. He describes the one who stays and works his land as someone who gains or has plenty of food or plenty of bread. And then he says but the one who leaves or the one who pursues this worthless pursuits has plenty of poverty. And I think it is this contrast that really gives us an idea or just paints a picture for us on the difference between these two people. And the difference is that the one who stays and works his land seems to have a clear objective and a goal and he has the patience and the diligence on how he's going to achieve that goal. There's an end to his goal. But he also knows the means that he's going to use to achieve that particular goal and he's careful to make sure that he doesn't do things that will jeopardize what his goal is. What a lesson that is for us in our own life is to think about our own culture. I like to call it the microwave culture with the invention of microwave, instant everything, right? Think of it. I mean right now in our culture everything is instant. I can have dinner within seconds. I can have instant TV. I don't have to miss my favorite soccer team, Chelsea Play, because I can do that even sitting on the pews because we have Wi-Fi. I can do that. I don't do that by the way just so you know. It's a culture of instant gratification and instant results. That whatever I need this moment I can achieve it right now. We all know the commercial on TV that says it's my money and I want it now. You've heard that commercial on TV haven't you? And so it's a culture that just teaches us that everything is instant. It's instant gratification, instant results. You know, I'm not saying that technology is bad. I'm actually very thankful for the advancement in technology and our culture in the world that you know, especially seeks to save so many lives that we can have, you know, someone who is suffering get help as soon as possible. But I do think that that culture sometimes might lead us or might help us, not help us, but might not be very helpful in helping us understand some of the things that God teaches us in being faithful, in remaining faithful. And this is what I mean. I think we need to be reminded that just because his instance, everything and instant results, that that's not how God works in our own lives. God is not an ATM machine that's just waiting to spill out all the reaches that you seek and want at an instant, that every moment I need $50 million I can just tap and voila, it's right there. That's not how God works. The way to abound in riches, the way to enjoy God's riches is long. It's not the shortcuts that we might think of. See, God wants to bless you and I. God wants to give us plenty as we just read. It's not like he's withholding anything away from us. But you know what, in that process, God also wants to grow you and I. He wants us to grow. He wants us to bear fruit. He wants us to grow in our character. And we miss that opportunity when we rush into things, when we rush into wanting much. And it's through those means that God provides for us. It's those means that we're working through as we're being faithful, as we're remaining faithful in him. Those are the means that God does use to provide for us. And sometimes they might seem very mundane. They might seem tedious. They might seem unattractive. They might seem even old-fashioned, just like farming. But we cannot miss the requirement that God is asking of us. And that is of remaining faithful to him. See, I don't know where everybody, every one of us is. I know I am. Maybe the job that you're working right now is not the job that you hope for. Maybe it's not the most glamorous job that you ask the Lord to provide for you. Are you tired as a parent? Sometimes maybe you do get tired of being a parent. Maybe it just seems so difficult and hard, especially when kids are not being very cooperative and obedient to you. Maybe you're in school. And school just seems to drag on and on and on. You're tired. You're ready for that next step in your life. You're thinking, when will this end? Maybe retirement is not as much fun as you thought it was going to be. You thought by getting retired, oh yes, now life begins. But now you're feeling like, this is not what I signed for. When I decided to leave my job. Even more, maybe you have made so many requests to God. Maybe you've asked for a child, for a how? For your son to come back home, for your daughter, to know the Lord, for things that you need in your home. And maybe those requests have gone on and on and he hasn't answered you. And you're probably getting discouraged and tired of keeping on asking. See, even in those things, God is telling us to remain faithful because you know what? There's something he sees that you do not. He knows the future and you do not. See, God is teaching us to be faithful. And I do think that when we remain faithful, even our prayer life does change. So that instead of asking, can I get this right now? It's my money and I want it now, God, can you give it to me? My prayer becomes one of total dependence on God. My prayer becomes one of full surrender to God and knowing that you know what, Lord, you know what's best for me and all this reaches belong to you and you can provide them when is your right timing. And I think that even prepares you and I to be able to receive God's blessings. It prepares us to be able to handle what God is gonna give to us. This is what I mean. There's a great and powerful parable in Luke chapter 16, verses 10. And Jesus towards the end of that parable on the dishonorable manager, he actually gives us an idea of what it means when God blesses us, but he enables us to handle the things that is giving us. Listen to what Jesus says. He says, one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you to the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? Do you want to be prepared to receive God's riches in your own life and remain faithful? Because that's how he prepares you. But I also think being faithful means, or rather, it really does speak into our hearts and shows us how we're being obedient to his call to our life. It's a question of remaining resolute in what we do. And God says that he does reward our faithfulness. Of course, not that our blessings are determined by the way we obedient to God. It's not like there's a way we can earn grace or we can earn riches or we can, if anything we deserve, we deserve God's wrath and death apart from Christ alone, right? But he still does say that he rewards our faithfulness. Listen to how he lists, how God lists the blessings that he has freely given to us in Deuteronomy 28, 1 and 6. And how that shows our obedience. He says, and if you truly, if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commands that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth, and all this blessing shall come upon you and overtake you. If you obey the voice of the Lord your God, blessed shall be you 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, increase of your herds and the young of your flock, blessed shall be your basket and your needing bowl, blessed shall be you when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. God is saying, remain faithful and I will bless you. And I think sometimes even when we're blessed, we don't even recognize that we've already been blessed by God's riches because sometimes they don't seem as what we expected, sometimes God's riches don't seem like the things that we hoped or we thought we would have. Because you know what, most of the times we're actually seeking less blessings, we're actually looking for less. I like the way Derek wear one of my favorite Christian artists puts it, we're seeking or loving lovers less while. They are lovers that do not satisfy, they don't give us much, we look for those things that are less instead of looking for God's true riches. Such a sad thing, instead of looking for God, we're looking for the things instead of looking for the king who owns all, so that when we find him, then we have found all things. And I think the reality of it is because we really don't believe how much God has offered to us and how much he has given to us. Because if we truly seek him and refuse to look for those lovers less while, we'll find ourselves to be fully satisfied. We can truly say as the Psalmist our cup overflows, when we dwell in the house of the most high king who owns even a thousand cattle on a hill. See, remaining faithful is what we need to do if we're gonna get God's blessings. But there's another option, we can take the other route, we can remain unfaithful. Look at verses 19 again, that B part. It says, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. And then 20 starts over by saying a faithful man or woman will abound with riches, but look at the B part of it. But whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. Again, the contrast here helps us to see what the hasty, the get rich quick person is really seeking. They're not after God, as we have seen, they're not after remaining faithful, they're not wanting to be steadfast in what they do. Are they looking for some translations render these passages? They're after vanities, they're after fantasies, they're after empty dreams, they're after mere pleasure that does not satisfy. They're looking, they're seeking for that instant riches and gratification, because they're really not willing to remain faithful to God. And so it's a question of us not wanting or not willing to remain faithful, not willing to be patient as a farmer is patient when they plant their crop, wait upon the Lord to shower the ground with rain, and then they wait, slowly the crop begin to grow, they're not willing to see and to watch as the crop grow and were toers into a harvest. Because it seems like too much work. Seems like a wasted time of just waiting and waiting, not knowing when this instant gratification will help us. And so we think, see that the idea here is, you almost get the idea of planting empty goals. What really could be the result of planting or if you start from an emptiness, what could be the result of that? It can only be one word, it can be emptiness. You cannot not sow and expect to reap a harvest. You cannot not plant and expect that you're gonna get fruit. So if you're not putting anything into it, then why are you expecting to get anything out of it? So this person seems to be pursuing that which is almost empty, it's an empty vanity, it's an empty promise, it's not that. And so when you get there, the end is just gonna be the same. It's gonna be emptiness. And I think this verb is really, this proverb is really showing us or leading us to choose outcomes. And for us, it's a question of, do we want to be richly blessed by God or do we just simply want to get rich quick? Because there's a difference. You can either desire to be richly blessed by God or you can just desire that all I want is, I'm in a hurry to have those riches. Because the first is we've seen require faithfulness but the second abandons every virtue that you could ever imagine to chase after material gain by cutting corners, by taking shortcuts. And reduce or because I think somehow we have a really wrong view of what work is all about. That's why this proverb begins by saying, whoever works his land, it begins by talking about work. But what is our view of work? Sometimes I think we really have a very bad idea and perception about what work is all about. We think of work and we think, well, work is the most undesirable. It's the most difficult. It's the most one thing that we need to avoid at all costs. Yes, I do agree that after the fall that work was affected, definitely the God tells Adam and Eve that you're going to have to sweat for everything you do but you know what, in verses 19 of Genesis 3 tells us that that is the means through which you're going to provide for yourself. This is what it says, by the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread. There is no other way than working church. We have to work to eat. You don't work, you don't eat. But our idea and perception about work is to run away from it. It's not to desire it. And so looking for shortcuts is really not having a good perception about what God tells us about work, that God, even through the difficulties of toily, He does provide for us. But yes, we do have to suffer the consequences of the fall and the work or work being cursed. But it's through a creation mandate. It's still a requirement from God. He still wants us to do it. You know what, He worked. God worked in creating the earth and the you and I. And then He created Adam and Eve and He commanded them and said, I put you in the garden to do what? To just rest so that you can get instant riches? No, I put you there that you may work. That is your responsibility. I'm sure you, just like me, have been tempted to cut corners in trying to achieve whatever it is that we want to achieve in life. I know I have. How many of you have ever spent time reading a five-step, 12-step, 15-step, 50-step steps on how to get rich quick? We've all seen those self-help books and we know what they say. They're trying to create a way for us to not follow, not to be faithful, but just to get there as quickly as possible and missing out on the blessings that God would have for us. How many times are we ever? I mean, I think the whole credit card financial situation in America really speaks volumes in thinking about this passage this morning. I mean, can you imagine a family that's struggling to provide for themselves? And yet you're tempted with wanting a nice car, a nice TV, a nice this and that. And a father or mother decides to put their family in so much debt instead of being faithful and beginning to save little by little so that you can afford those things that you want to enjoy. But getting your family in so much debt with credit card, just because you don't want to wait. Just because you don't want to be faithful because you're rushing to get all those things. I think we miss out on so much. I mean, you've heard of all the puns and schemes and pyramid schemes that are even destroying churches. Pastor Dan was telling me about even our own denomination that has been affected by some of these things. You know, when people come telling you, I have this wonderful scheme where, you know, you can get wealthy in like two months, you're going to be worth $5 million. Money that you never worked for. Money that you never put a dime in. What do they say when the deal is too good? When the deal is too good? Think twice, right? And I say you think twice. Think twice by thinking about, are you really remaining faithful in God in terms of, are you trusting God to work in your life to provide for you? Ask yourself, are you doing the right things? Because faithfulness has to do with uprightness. It has to do with how we, the decisions that we make, you know, are we being unethical? Are we sinning? Are we doing things that are wrong in achieving or in making those decisions just so that we can get which quick? Simply rushing to the part of gold which you haven't worked for will not be a blessing to you. And I think once again, it really does come down to our aims in life. I think in my own life, I am tempted to seek after and to search or to want the lesser goals in life. Instead of looking for God, I am looking for things that He owns and He can provide for me. But just in the same way that I follow the less things in life, His passage is reminding us that the one who pursues all these vanities and empty things will not go and punish because they will have plenty of poverty. The poverty is the punishment. The luck is the punishment. Of course, we're not farmers here. So again, we're not growing crop. It's not just a lack of food. It's not just not having food. But if you really think about it, poverty is wider than that. We can extend that in our own life. Think of someone who will go to whatever extreme there can be to achieve the riches that they're looking for so that they disregard their family and friends. They do all sorts of unethical things to just achieve that which they're looking for and burn bridges with their family and friends. Poverty is not just physical, but it's emotional, it's spiritual, and it's social. So when you're cutting those corners, it's gonna affect you in all those ways. See, like I said, we all want children. We all want houses. We all want jobs. Good jobs. Not just jobs that we're really struggling in. We want money. We want good things. These are not bad things. God wants to bless us with those things. Our problem is we want it now. Our problem is that we're not willing to wait. Our problem is that we're willing to cut corners and not wanting the Lord to model who we are to work in our own lives to help us to grow. We somehow have this idea that getting those things as fast and as quick as possible is actually gonna solve all of our problems. It's gonna make us better. It's just the opposite. It actually will not make you better. But by seeking God, you will make all things better. And when He gives us those things, then we will see His blessings. I love the verse that we looked at this morning as our verse of the week, and I hope we can memorize it in Matthew, chapter six, verses 33. But see, first, the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be added to you. That's what we need to be looking at. See, the selfish ambition to instantly enrich you what one self, God will not reward that. He does not reward that. Because He wants us to be blessed, but the blessing that He bestows upon us are coming out of our faithfulness. True blessings can only come from Him. Trying to do it all on our own is fertility. The way to abound in God's riches is faithfulness, learning to be content with where we are and trusting the Lord to provide for everything we need. It's not chasing after instant riches. Because instead of those riches being blessings, they will leave us empty and not satisfied. Share a little bit of my story, and I'm gonna end with a personal story. Of a faithful mother who brought up his children, she was denied education at a young age. But she knew the value of education. See, my mother tells me that she made a prayer when I was a little boy, my brother and I were, were young children. Growing up in a village where there's absolutely nothing, she knew that we had no hope. But she told God that she missed out on so much in life. But I hope was that one day, her children would have good education and make a life for themselves. She had so many opportunities to cut corners, to the people who came offering all kinds of things for us to buy more cows and buy more goats and stay in the village and all of that. And she said no. She had no idea where we're gonna end up. She did not know that my father was gonna be a pastor in the city. She didn't know that. But I remember my mother crying. I was 12 years old and now I'll never forget. The day that she found out that we were gonna go to the city. Not because the city was glamorous. Not because she was looking forward to living in this huge 10 million people, you know, city and a nice house and running water and the electricity and all of that. She said one thing, it was only because her children now had an opportunity in life. She was faithful. See, I'm sure my mother struggles just like me. With being content. At the heart of us remaining faithful, really is what Paul tells us. Because if you're not content with where you are, you're gonna be hasty. You're gonna run after riches instead of walking with the Lord and remaining faithful in me. And so I leave you with this beautiful words from Philippians 4-11 and 13. For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Thank you Lord Jesus for your word this morning. May you help us remain faithful to be content with where you have us and to trust in your failing love, to be steadfast in all that we do, so that we may abound with riches that only come from you. We pray this in the name of the Father, love the Son, love the Holy Spirit. Amen.