This is the thread where we get to discuss money and wealth.
Jesus famously said that 'the poor you shall always have with you, but me, you shall not have always.' I would contend that He was talking to His disciples, in their time, not us in ours. I did some back of an envelope calculations a couple of years ago (pre-covid) based on numbers by Credit Suisse.
It seems that if the world's wealth were distributed equally, including children, we would each have a net worth of $33,000 and an income of $27,000 per year. That's $132,000 net worth and $108,000 annual income for each standard Nato issue four part nuclear family. Clearly, some people have a great deal more net worth and income than this, and some have a great deal less.
So, what do you make of these numbers, and the global distribution of wealth?
Best wishes, 2RM.
God is the one who distributes the wealth...which is how I interpret it anyway...
“But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”
— Deuteronomy 8:18 (KJV)
“The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.”
— 1 Samuel 2:7 (KJV)
Psalms 112 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹ Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
² His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
³ Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
Deuteronomy 26 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
⁹ And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.
¹⁰ And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:
Deuteronomy 28 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹ And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
² And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
³ Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
⁴ Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
⁵ Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
⁶ Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
⁷ The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
⁸ The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
⁹ The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
¹⁰ And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
¹¹ And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
¹² The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
¹³ And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
¹⁴ And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.