The Danger of Prosperity

Zechariah 7:7

Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

Prosperity is one of the greatest dangers in life. Prosperity may not cause someone to do what the world would seem wrong, but it can absolutely keep a person from obeying God and doing what He tells them to do for their lives. Many who have achieved prosperity left God’s Will for their lives because their focus was on the blessings of prosperity.

Prosperity comes in many different forms. Prosperity is often associated with financial prosperity; however, prosperity can also come in the form of great success, whether in the ministry or in life. Many churches that once struggled found prosperity, and stopped doing what brought them to the blessings of prosperity, to their destruction. Many Christians started out with nothing but did what was right, and God blessed them, resulting in many of these believers straying from God because of the blessings God gave to them. Many business owners started out with nothing, and God blessed them for what they did, and they became very successful, but once they achieved success, their success pulled them away from God. Everyone must be careful about allowing prosperity to pull them away from the source of their blessings, which is God.

The verse above says that when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity that they rejected the preaching of the prophets. The prosperity of Jerusalem led Israel to leave God's way of living to live their own lives. However, because they left the actions that brought prosperity and rejected the preaching of the prophets, God destroyed them. There are several things we must do to avoid prosperity’s destruction.

First, never forget the God who blessed you because you did right. Everything we have has been given to us by God; therefore, our prosperity is a direct result of God blessing our actions. When you get focused on prosperity and not on God is when prosperity will pull you away from God. Stay focused on God and keep him first in your life, and you will continue to see God bless your future.

Second, be careful about being focused on the blessings of prosperity. Many people get focused on the blessings instead of the One Who blessed them to their destruction. Every blessing we have comes from above, and we must be careful about taking our eyes off God and placing them on the blessings. Our blessings often result in possessions, and the danger of possessions is that we get focused on them and let them pull us away from God. All your possessions will never keep God's blessings on you. You can focus on your possessions and lose what brought them, which will result in losing the blessings of God on your life.

Third, do the actions that brought the prosperity, and the likelihood of the prosperity continuing is great. Just because you have achieved prosperity does not mean you should back up. Hard work, serving God, doing right, and giving your tithes and offerings are what brought God's blessings on your life, which led to your prosperity. Don't stop serving God because you have prospered, but keep serving God, and you will find His blessings will continue. Keep doing what you have always done that brought the prosperity, and you will see those blessings continue in your life.