“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 73
“He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread” (Prov. 12:9)
A man can have wealth and look like he has it. He can have it, and look like he doesn’t have it. Another man can not have it, and look the part. Or he can do what this proverb cautions against, which is acting like you have it when you don’t. This is the “all hat, no cattle” approach. This is bling for white, middle-class guys who want to look like they made it farther up the greasy pole of ambition than they actually did. And this is where credit cards come in, justified with a casual “you have to look like you have money to make money.”
This proverb concerning wealth compares two of the options. The advice given is not, “If you got it, flaunt it.” Scripture does not condemn wealth outright anywhere, but it constantly derides ostentatious display. And in this case, it is deriding an ostentatious display that is also a lying display. What is better — to have read a paperback classic or to own a leather-bound classic that you have never read?