Does everyone believe that prosperity IS the Christmas story? Let us see what we can discover.
The story of Christmas comes from the Bible. So what do we find there about prosperity?
Apart from angelic affirmations of “Peace on Earth” (which is another way of describing prosperity), we also find:
- Jesus was descended of the royal line, and was the heir to the monarchy by birth. As this is mentioned in two of the Gospels, we can assume that Jesus was publicly known to have that status.
- When Jesus was born, his parents were away from home, in a place called Bethlehem, because there was a census being taken. The reason, was to control the payment of taxes. His father, Joseph seems therefore to have been a taxpayer, probably as a result of owning property in Bethlehem. One only pays tax out of wealth.
- The circumstances of his birth may suggest poverty and meanness, but the story actually discounts that by saying that the reason why Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger was because there was no room in the inn. It doesn’t say that there was no money to pay for a room.
- At his birth three fabulously wealthy men, either magi, wise men or kings, visited him in order to bestow on him significant wealth. The gold, frankincense and myrrh were not cheap trinkets! These visitors were anxious to give valuable gifts which, no doubt were enough to provide wealth for Jesus and his family, probably for life.
- Joseph, his father, was a prosperous man, in the carpentry business. We can deduce that it was a very successful business which provided all buildings, furniture and implements which were so vital for the life of society. You can be sure that it was commercially very profitable.
- We can assume that the family ate and drank prosperously because the first miracle which Jesus did was to turn water into wine. It was the best wine of course. How did he know it would be the best wine? Because that was what he habitually drank. This is true prosperity! His mother Mary, was complicit in this, ‘setting Jesus up’ to perform this miracle, because she knew he could do it.
The perception of some people is that Jesus was poor, and his background was poor. Such a view serves the sentimental attitude of many. Clearly his background was anything but poor. However, when he became an itinerant preacher and miracle worker, he chose to be poor, and encouraged his disciples, if they wanted to follow him, to be poor also. That was his choice, at the age of thirty, because it served his purposes to do so.
The Western world has adopted the custom of giving gifts at Christmas. That is a very prosperous thing to do, and no doubt has its origins in the story of the wise men bringing fabulous gifts to the baby Jesus. Yes, Christmas is a time of prosperity and it seems somewhat churlish to criticize modern affluent society when they are just being Christian and giving everyone wonderful gifts.
And then there is the frequent criticism of our society for ‘over reveling’ at Christmas. Why? Throughout the Bible we have the concept and practice of ‘feasting and making merry.’ As mentioned above, at the wedding where Jesus was guest and turned water into the best wine, without doubt they were all ‘getting plastered’ and Jesus made sure it went on into the night – and beyond.
I could go on. The universe gives all of us the right to exercise the choice in life of prosperity or poverty. Which will you and I choose?
Of Jesus, Apostle Paul wrote ‘He who was rich became poor that through his poverty we should be made rich.’ It was his choice then, and now it’s your choice, either way.
The person who prefers to be poor has most likely never been rich. Possibly, that is not a fair endorsement for poverty as there is no choice. Many of the great philanthropists have spent time and energy finding out how to become wealthy and then have chosen to give it up, for the greater good of society, but the point is that they were once rich. They had the choice.
Discovering how to become prosperous is easy to understand, but difficult to achieve. It is based upon the attitude of the mind. That is all. Those who know how to control their thoughts are likely to be prosperous. Those who allow outside influences to control their thoughts are likely to be poor.
It is the same with money itself. “You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will always control you.” (Dave Ramsey, American financial author)
For more information, why not go to my special report on this subject? www.muchinmind.com/report.
I wish you a very happy Christmas and a very prosperous New Year.
Malcolm Baxter