A lot of well wishers are saying as a form of greeting anyone for the new year "a prosperous new year ahead." It may also be written all over the greeting cards or any other correspondences as of late.
Prosperity as this world views it pertains to economic abundance. It is always attached with monetary value. The volume of ones bank account. The total assets in ones possession. The networth of an individual. And the lack of narrated material items of value is the exact opposite.
Simply put, prosperity according how the world is attached to money or material wealth. More often than not, money is associated with greed. While greed is the main trigger point of any evil things one can do.
A man steal for want of something beyond his own means. Prostitution has been resorted to for want to earn the easy way. One may cheat his way up to accumulate wealth. A politician receives bribe for easy money and recover what was spent during the campaign period. The list could go on and on, and the bottom line of every possible list we could think of is greed.
Every item in the ten commandments of God is broken because of love of money. That is why Jesus is sternly warning us that we can not serve both God and money.
What the world missed therefore is the fact that prosperity is beyond wealth. Our health, both physical and spiritual should not be forgotten. What our senses can not see is far greater than anything else.
When we first came to this world we bring nothing. We were born naked and nothing of material value attached to us. To dust we will return with nothing on hand, everything left behind when we die.
This is not to say that saving is no longer an option because we may not bring this when we die. Saving is still paramount. The real spirit of the statement here is that of excessive accumulation of wealth as an indication of prosperity.
What is emphasized here then is to at least balance your material gain and the intangible aspect of your life, which is your health and your spiritual life. In fact, it is even highly recommended to give the paramount importance to the latter than the former.
As St. Paul encouraged Timothy in his letter saying, contentment with godliness is great gain. Therefore, with the economic situation for the year 2010 is still unpredictable, our battle cry is to be content, save and borrow no more, and nurture your spirits.
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