The promises of God are precious and very great. Throughout their journey in the wilderness, God pointed His people to days of blessing and prosperity. He demonstrated His ability to deliver on such promises by meeting all their needs in the desert. His promise of blessing was not simply one for “getting by.” God promised His people that they would prosper within His covenant, according to His Law.

Prosperity was thus to be both an outlookand an expectationfor the people of Israel. This would have affected everything they did and all the ways they did it. People who expect to prosper work diligently, and with excellence and efficiency, to maximize their resources and strength toward what they expect to realize. God taught His people to work for prosperity, and we can be sure that those who faithfully expected such from the hand of God bent their labors and strength toward realizing prosperity in every aspect of their lives.

Today it seems that many of God’s people have settled for a kind of “good enough” experience of God’s covenant. The Lord promises exceeding abundantly more than we could ever ask or think, but we seem content with a faith that assures us of eternal life and provides a modicum of peace and happiness here and now.

But what if we really expected to prosper in all the power and presence and blessings of the Lord?

What if we really expected to be increasingly transformed into the image of Jesus Christ? His Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven? His to churches to grow increasingly in unity and maturity? His enemies to be placed under His feet? His goodness to be seen in the land of the living? Our world to be turned upside-down for King Jesus?

Would such an outlook and such expectations affect the diligence, excellence, and efficiency with which we seek the Lord and His blessings?

We can only believe that it must be so.

T. M. Moore

The book of Ecclesiastes is a crucial resource for understanding the Biblical worldview against the backdrop of our secular age. Follow T. M.’s studies in Ecclesiastes by downloading the free, weekly studies available in our Scriptorium Resources page at The Fellowship of Ailbe. Click here to see the weekly studies available thus far.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.