Accumulation Obsession
“The wicked desires the booty of evil men, but the root of the righteous yields fruit.” Proverbs 12:12
Desires – There’s never enough, is there? At least that’s the way the world thinks. No matter what you have, there is always room for just a little more. In fact, the law of accumulation really works like this: the more you have, the more you want. Solomon, a man who had quite a bit, had something profound to say about this law. It’s all about context.
The Hebrew word hamad has a wide range of meanings. It can be used to describe desiring or taking pleasure in something. It can also be used to describe lusting after of coveting something. The context determines the meaning. That’s the way it is with the law of accumulation. In one context possessions can provide pleasure and purpose. In another context they can become the source of constant craving and selfish accumulation. How is the context determined? The answer is found in the rest of this verse.
The phrase “root of the righteous yields fruit” is literally “the root of the righteous he will give”. God provides the stability of life. He is the sufficient sustainer. In the context of the life of the righteous, His will determines the possessions that come into my hand. I am not the conqueror of the world. I am steward of His purpose. My life in context shows that I understand distribution, from Him to me to others. I am not an accumulation machine.
When Paul speaks about avoiding conformity to the patterns of this world, he has in mind many of Solomon’s insights. None is more important than this. Life is not about tending for myself. Life is not about my family and me. Life is not about what’s mine. All of those points of view are within the context of hamad as lusting and coveting. If I learn the wilderness lesson, I realize that Job was right. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Life is simply about my voluntary alignment with His intentions. Whether He gives much or little is of no concern to me. The balance sheet means nothing in the end. If I trust God, I stand against all the world’s seduction of accumulation, in wealth, power, status, sex and time. Those gods are not my God. I serve the One Who gives, not the ones who demand that I take.
