PROVERBS 30:1-9
A business owner who won $314 million in a lottery had admirable goals. He desired to establish a philanthropic organization, hire back those who had been laid off, and provide for his family. He told reporters that despite his significant achievements, he would remain himself.
A follow-up report published a few years later revealed a different result. The lottery winner has lost all of his money in gambling, harmed his character, and run into legal problems since becoming extremely wealthy.
Agur, a clever man, created words that foresaw such tragedy. Agur was brought low by his understanding of his own predispositions (Proverbs 30:2–3), and he saw the perils of possessing too much or not enough. So he asked God to grant him neither poverty nor riches, but to nourish him with what is allotted to him, lest he be full and reject God, or that he be poor and commit theft and defile the name of God (vv. 8–9).
Agur acknowledged the unique difficulties posed by both prosperity and poverty, as well as by our own inclinations. Each teaches us to exercise caution. They demonstrate our dependence on the One who gave us the ability to ask, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
🙏🏼Lord Jesus, as we seek Your face today to ask for what we need, help us to keep in mind that You are as wise in what You don’t give us and in what You do give us.
