Pretending to be rich

"One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth."

Proverb 13:7

Ooof, that one hurt me! Reading this makes me think of all the times i've spent money on "big name brands" with the wish that wearing it will make people think highly of me. It's especially noticeable with my little girls when they compare our lives with their friends. Every kid says something like "all my friends have a ___" or "all my friends get to ____" and I give them the classic responses "Well if everybody was jumping off a bridge would you jump too" or "I'm not their dad, I'm your dad." I think a lot of us are quick to dismiss our kiddos when they are being fueled by pressure from their peers, but dog gone it if we aren't just as bad (if not worse) than our kids!

Think about it fellas, how many "toys" do you have that you thought you NEEDED and now they sit collecting dust? How often have you bought the latest greatest camo patterned jacket because it's all the rage with the hunting buddies (everyone wearing sitka gear knows what I'm talking about)? How often have you borrowed a shinier motorcycle to ride in a parade because yours doesn't look cool enough? You didn't do that last one, I did. This proverb from wise king Solomon will strike every heart if you meditate on it long enough.

Solomon doesn't just scold us tough, he encourages us with wisdom. "Pretending to be poor" is a weird concept, but here is where I think he is going with this one. When you spend your resources like you don't have them in the first place you end up retaining them. I used the word resource intentionally because I don't believe money is the only thing that is valuable here. I your time, your belongings, your capacity for relationships, your energy, AND your money are all things that, if you had a substantial amounts, equate to wealth. So, here's the point. When you retain your resources instead of spending it on everything you can and pretend you have none to spend you end up creating a wealth of resources.

Here is how I am going to practice this. I am going to spend less of my attention and brain power on youtube and facebook marketplace. If I retain this resource (my attention) my stock pile will grow and I will have more of my attention to give to my relationships. Now I know this may sound ridiculous to some of you, but think about something you want to have more of (keep spiritual things as a HIGH priority if you want your entire life to be blessed) spend less of it. Remember things like time, energy, money are all options. When you retain it, set it aside, save it, whatever you want to call it. You will build a "wealth" of it.

I'll shoot you straight though, don't start out on things like this unless you find accountability for yourself. When I say accountability what I mean is build a team of guys for yourself. This is something I try to do a lot at church connect guys so they have more guys on the team. Teammates are invaluable in your spiritual walk. But, thats a subject for another 5 min.