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Writer's pictureDeborah

A Fool and Money

 Old Sayings



Proverbs 16:16 ESV and MSG


Saying: A fool and His money soon part.


I’ve never been the kind of person who had a great desire to have a lot of money. I think that because when I was young my dad did an object lesson for me that really stuck with me.


I was probably in 6th Grade when he was studying his Sunday School lesson and I asked him what the lesson was about. 


My dad was always one looking for opportunities to teach but when he taught he didn’t give answers. He often asked questions. He made it so we had to figure it out. 


That day he told me to close my eyes. Then he quietly shuffled around (and secretly took out his billfold) and pulled something out. I could hear him smooth out some kind of paper. While I had my eyes closed he carefully took a dollar bill and he smoothed it out so it was straight. 


Then he placed the paper (the dollar bill) across both of my eyes. He put it close enough to my face that I couldn’t see anything else except the paper. Then he told me to open my eyes. 


I was somewhat confused because I couldn’t tell what he was holding over my eyes. When he asked me what I could see I said, “I’m not sure but it looks like it’s a green and white pattern. 


He asked me what the color green reminded me of? 


“Hummm…I’m not sure, but maybe it’s the color of money.” 


He asked me if I could see anything else. 


“Uhhh, no, just the green.”


Then he asked me why I couldn’t see anything else. 


At this point I was starting to get frustrated and I said, “well you’ve put it too close to my face. It’s right up to my eyes! I can’t see anything else.”


Then he said, “good.”


I made a face and he could see that by the way I was holding my mouth. He laughed and he told me that when something is really important to us, we hold it close to us. 


Then he removed the dollar bill from my eyes so I could see it clearly and he said to me, “if money is the most important thing to you, it may very well be the only thing you see. Because of that, you will NOT see other things.”


I asked him, “like what?”


Then he told me if money is the most important thing to you, you’ll miss seeing how God is blessing you. You might not know how much God loves you. And you won’t notice people who love you. You might miss knowing who God is calling you to BE.


That wasn’t the first time we had talked about God and who God created me to be. We had also talked about how much God loves us, but it was the first time we spoke about God and money. 


He knew I wanted him to get to the point (because I often said that) so he said, “Sis, don’t seek money. Don’t put money before God. If you do that, you’ll miss the point.” 


I knew what he meant by that. He meant if I put money first, I’ll miss what God has for me. 


I didn’t want to miss out on what God had for me. I knew that God was important and I wanted God to be an important part of my life. I knew that because we had talked about God having a special purpose for every person who is open to letting God into their life. 


After that day I thought about wanting God to be the most important thing in my life. 


I told God I didn’t want it to be money. 


I wanted it to be God. 


When my dad did the object lesson that day I’m not sure he really knew what an impact that had on my life. Whenever I thought about money I remembered the dollar bill covering my eyes. 


Later in life whenever I heard the saying that a fool and his money soon part. I would wonder if their money was so important to them that they didn’t think to ask God to help them make wise choices with their money. I believed if they put God first, God would help them know what to do with their money. 


Proverbs 16:16 tells us, “How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.” ESV


Wise King Solomon knew when we seek to have God’s understanding, WE are wise and that’s worth much more than money.


The Message translation of Proverbs 16:16 says, “Get wisdom—it’s worth more than money;choose insight over income every time.”


In the end I’ve learned that money comes and goes, seeking God remains forever. When we seek God we gain God’s wisdom and understanding.


Spiritual Practice: Seek God


Ask for wisdom and understanding.  


In God, Deborah

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