Proverbs 30

 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. ~ vs. 7-9

These verses teach us a lot. In fact, I have made them my prayer many times. 

It starts off with a sincere, humble plea showing more spiritual concern than material interest.  The first request is for removal of vanity and lies. Vanity can be emptiness, hollowness, or things that distract from truth or godliness. Lies could be personal deceit or influence of falsehood from others. Cultivate honest speech, honest dealings, and an honest heart. 

The second request is to give neither poverty nor riches, but to give convenient food. Extremes are dangerous, and the writer wisely avoids them in this passage. He even gives the reason. 

⇾ Abundance can cause a person to forget God and lead to pride, arrogancy, and self-dependency. In Deuteronomy 8:10-14, Moses warned Israel that abundance can lead to forgetfulness of God. "...when thou hast eaten and art full.... beware lest thou forget the Lord..."

Riches can also blind us to spiritual need. Revelation 3:17 says of the Laodicean church, "Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing...and knowest not that thou art wretched..."

⇾ Poverty can tempt a person into sinful desperation, bringing dishonor to God's name. Taking God's name in vain goes far beyond than just using his name as a curse word. In fact, just as dangerous is a person who says he's a Christian but misrepresents God through his life. Unbelievers watch closely, listen, and scrutinize Christians, and they pick up on inconsistencies like nothing else. I know no one is perfect nor can anyone live a perfect life, but we can live holily as God commands us to; and we should be striving every single day to be transformed more like Jesus so that unbelievers will want Jesus too. It breaks my heart when unsaved people tell me how a "Christian" treated them poorly or how this "Christian" they know committed a horrible sin. It turns them away from God, and yes, they will be responsible to God for their response, but we Christians will also be responsible for how we live. Are you living the gospel? Or are you taking God's name in vain with your life? 

Remember: your walk talks way louder than your talk talks. 

Back to the passage, the writer avoids the 2 extremes by asking God to give him convenient food. Each one of us are in a different situation, and God knows each one. He knows what's convenient for me, and what's convenient for you. Don't mistake me: I'm all for making the most amount of money, investing, etc. But I believe we should actively seek a balanced life. 

Seek contentment and dependence on God. Ask him for what is sufficient. We don't need stockpiles. We need daily reliance on God.  

We see this lesson throughout the Scriptures. In Exodus, God provided a certain measure of mana day by day to teach the people to trust him. 

Lamentations 3 teaches us that God gives us new mercies every day. He sustains us one day at a time. 

In Matthew Jesus says to "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

And

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"

And in 1 Timothy...

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

And in Philippians 

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry...

No matter the situation in life, we need to learn contentment. Looking ahead to the next thing is dangerous because 1. we miss treasuring the moments here and now and 2. we think the next thing or situation in life will bring us happiness/satisfaction. In reality it doesn't because we haven't learned to be content with our current lot. Take comfort in knowing that God knows what we need and what is convenient for each person. And if God takes care of the sparrows, he definitely takes care of his children. 💕