Devotional Guide, Today’s Reading Thursday December 22, 2022

Comment: The divine command that man must sweat or labour to eat bread is vividly demonstrated by the analogy portrayed by the industrious lifestyle of the ant. King Solomon in Proverbs 6:6-11 admonished, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise: which have no guide, overseer, or ruler, provided her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long will thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”

Though many become rich through corrupt or underhand means, there are several people today who are hard-working individuals who established business ventures and developed them diligently through dedication and by dint of hard work. They all built their business empires from the scratch and continued being workaholics as they expanded and grew these businesses by the grace of God. People of God should therefore understand that wealth comes from God, with attendant hard work.

We are to avoid get-rich-quick schemes and diabolical routes to success which are ungodly, and do not tend to righteousness. Scripture enjoins, “Stay awake, work hard, and there will be plenty to eat.” – Proverbs 12:11, New Living Translation. See also Matthew 6 :11.