IF YOU are faithful to God, will he bless you with riches? Perhaps, but probably not with the sort of riches you expect. Consider Mary, the mother of Jesus. The angel Gabriel appeared to her and said that she was “highly favored” by God and that she would give birth to the Son of God. (Luke 1:28, 30-32)
Yet, she was not wealthy. When Mary offered a sacrifice after Jesus’ birth, she presented “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” which was the customary offering that poor people made to Jehovah.—Luke 2:24; Leviticus 12:8.
Did the fact that Mary was poor mean that she did not have God’s blessing? On the contrary, when she went to visit Elizabeth, her relative, “Elizabeth was filled with holy spirit, and she called out with a loud cry and said: ‘Blessed are you [Mary] among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!’” (Luke 1:41, 42) Mary was privileged to become the earthly mother of God’s beloved Son.
Jesus himself was not a rich man. Not only was he born and brought up in humble surroundings but he was poor throughout his life on earth. He once told a man who was seeking to be a disciple: “Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have roosts, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head.” (Luke 9:57, 58)
Nevertheless, what Jesus Christ did in coming to the earth made it possible for his disciples to come into possession of great riches. The apostle Paul wrote: “He became poor for your sakes, that you might become rich through his poverty.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) What kind of riches did Jesus give his disciples? And what about today?
Why not check the Scriptures here?
BIBLE ON LINE
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