Proverbs 21:20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.

While driving with Pastor Doug he was listening to Chris Rock on XM. Chris Rock can be crass, so he isn’t for everyone, but he makes good points, you just have to get through the language. He was talking about how wealthy people are different than rich people and how the difference between being wealthy and being rich is significantly different. One so vast that if you can wrap your head around it you will be changed forever, I believe.

Simply stated wealthy people and rich people live vastly different lives. Rich people spend sometimes lavishly and sometimes foolishly, or both, but spending is the rich person’s drug. Wealthy people amass. To amass means to accumulate. They take money and turn it into more money. They aren’t spenders necessarily. They understand that amassing is more important. There is a difference between amassing and hoarding. To amass means I accumulate by spending on things that will add value and in the end bring me more wealth. Hoarding means I hang on to what I have in my hand never seeing the value in spending to add value. To hoard something means I am content with the amount I hid in my mattress or the amount that is gaining low interest in my savings account.

Chris Rock states as an example, Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) is rich. The man who writes Shaq’s check is wealthy. He is spending on Shaq knowing that his showmanship, sportsmanship and entertainment value will bring him more money in the long run than it costs to pay Shaq. Shaq on the other hand may or may not be amassing. He may have more money than he can spend in a lifetime but that is still not amassing. Unless that money is growing faster than it is being spent eventually he or his children will have out-spent his money.

Now let’s break it down to terms for you and me because for the most part, we are not rich like Shaq or wealthy like Shaq’s boss. When we live paycheck to paycheck spending every dime we make, we are rich but we aren’t wealthy. I hear people brag about the six-figure incomes they earn, but if they aren’t saving and amassing they live like the man who makes 30k.

When we get the concept of wealth it means we live below our means. I know very wealthy people and you’d never know it. They aren’t eating out all the time, they aren’t financing a car for five years and then buying another one in three years and dumping the balance into a new loan, they are frugal. Wealthy people are buying what they need and buying quality. What good does it do for you to have 15 pairs of Payless Shoe Store shoes and 20 t-shirts from Wal-Mart when they aren’t going to last because they aren’t of quality? Maybe one good pair of shoes and two good quality t-shirts will last you longer and therefore be a better value. New cars are nice but they lose value as you drive them off the lot so paying cash for something that will not amass anything for you is better. Maybe your children have a toy chest overflowing with toys but how many of those toys are in good working order and how many are really necessary? Maybe instead of amassing toys you should put money away for college, which will be a better value for them in the long run. The principles you are using to live your life you are also mirroring to your children and in the long run you may be propagating poverty.

Often followers of Christ think poverty is sign of piety. Facts remain they have nothing in common and are not connected at all. Poverty is not a godly design. In fact spending every last dime you make is not a godly design either. Having seed to sow is godly. Having money to invest to reap a harvest is a godly principle. Replenishing is a godly principle. So which one are you trying to become wealthy or rich? There is a difference. One is living for today and one is living for generations to come.