Just Enough - Agur

First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

Proverbs 30:8-9

A man became envious of some friends because they had nicer homes in better neighborhoods. Always interested in keeping up with the Joneses, he listed his house with a real estate firm and began looking for a bigger, better home.

Shortly after putting his house on the market, the man saw an ad in the newspaper’s classified section for a home that seemed just right. He called the realtor, asked a few questions, and began making arrangements to meet the agent and see the house. When the agent told him the address, the man suddenly canceled the appointment and hung up the phone in embarrassment.

He had just inquired about his own home.

Feelings of discontentment will cause a man to do strange things. An Old Testament character called Agur (perhaps a nickname for Solomon) demonstrated that he understood “The Law of Just Enough.”

Having too much can cause problems, Agur wrote, because the rich tend to be self-sufficient, self-indulgent, and self-satisfied, and such people easily forget their need for God. Agur also saw dangerous pitfalls in poverty. If things got desperate enough, he might do foolish things that would dishonor himself and God. Agur advised his readers to have just enough to feel satisfied but not so much that they neglected their Provider.

The Bible encourages hard work and lists several rich men in its “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. As you work to pursue a good life for yourself and your family, nurture an attitude of gratitude. Failure to be content with whatever God gives you can lead to a boatload of trouble (see 1 Timothy 6:6-10).