Monday, 28 December 2020

Can you really think and grow rich?

Tweet

Think and Grow Rich (the book by author Napoleon Hill) was first published in 1937 as a self-help and personal development book. The book proposes 13 principles as a "Philosophy of Achievement." It, along with every other "self-help" book, takes the principles of God and repackages them (for the most part, removing God from the +table of contents). I propose that stealing God's principles and removing God's name from them is either plagiarism directly, or its first cousin.

The principle that your thoughts direct your reality is directly from the Bible. Proverbs 23:7a "For as he thinks within himself, so is he." Please do not misunderstand my intention today. I am not writing about material riches.

Yeshua had this discussion with His disciples ... Matthew 19:23 "Then Yeshua said to His disciples, 'Amen, I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.'" His disciples responded to this by asking in astonishment ... Matthew 19:25b "Then who can be saved?" Yeshua pointed them to His (and our) Father by saying ... Matthew 19:26 "And looking, Yeshua said to them, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"

I'm writing about which tree in the garden is the focus of our thought life. The "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" is the tree of reasoning, the tree of competition with God. It leads to a life of striving against God. Genesis 3:4-5 "The serpent said to the woman, 'You most assuredly won't die! For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" The woman wanted "wisdom," so she ate from the forbidden tree.

The "Tree of Life" is the tree of following God, the tree of embracing God and obedience to His Word. Interesting that the tree of life requires death also, death of self will in submission to the will of God yielding eternal life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil requires the death of the partaker yielding eternal damnation.

Begs the question, "How do I choose the tree of life?" Eyes on the "life giver, the Savior of the world." Yeshua told His disciples, "Follow me." He's telling us the same thing today. All that's left is for us to answer, "Hineni, here I am, send me."