Not quickly

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

NOT QUICKLY

Prov 20:21

21 An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.

NIV

One might think this favors the idea of not being involved in get rich quick schemes such as the lottery or those casinos that dot our landscape. Certainly they would be included in this idea of quickly gained inheritance. This would also imply God does not bless such a method of gaining an inheritance. Then we would have to conclude buying a lottery ticket is sin. We would also have to conclude that gambling of any sort is a sin. But then at the time of this writing there was neither the lottery nor casinos. It is true the word of God is what we have referred to as transcultural in the sense it is valid for every culture in every time in history. As it was valid in the time of Solomon it is also valid in our time. It applied to their lives and it applies to ours. We cannot say a verse or passage in scripture was only for them in that time and no longer applies to us on our time. Yet with their not having the lottery or any casinos this saying should also have some other application about quickly gained inheritance. What would that have meant to them and thus could also mean to us? The idea the Hebrew word translated quickly gained means to tremble inwardly which would lend to the concept of speculation. We might say that would apply to a lottery ticket but it also would apply to investments that are speculative, not secure, with no guarantee of a return. Whenever we place money in a position that could be lost, it might well cause some inward trembling. Surely some people think investments are wise for future income. Certainly some investments are not gaining an inheritance very quickly. Yet the idea here still has a more apolitical meaning. Income or an inheritance gained any other way then by the labor of our hands is not blessed by God. This principal can be applied to all men in history, in the present and the future. Anything which is framed in a certain time or culture could be applied by they are exclusive to it. So then we must conclude God honors our labor, or diligence to the work of our own hands. This is what he established from the time of the first man, because of his disobedience. Adam was told he would toil the ground by the sweat of his brow all the days of his life. Working for our money is God ordained and thus blessed by him. Anything else, we cannot be certain of. Let us not be looking for some other way to gain an inheritance. especially quickly.