Stop Chasing Money That Grows Wings

IThe Hebrew, opened up

• יָגַע yaga H3021

  properly “to gasp” — to wear yourself down, exhaust yourself, toil until you’re spent

• עוּף uph H5774

  to fly, to fly away swiftly — the same word used for a bird taking off

This isn’t the normal word for work. Yaga pictures a man out of breath, running himself into the ground. Solomon isn’t telling you to quit your job — he’s telling you not to let getting rich be the thing you run yourself ragged for. Riches don’t “disappear.” Solomon uses the exact word for a bird taking flight — wealth grows its own wings and takes off on its own timetable, not yours. You can white-knuckle it all you want; it can still fly.

IIIObey it today

1. 1

   Before you check your bank account, your crypto app, or your sales numbers today, stop for one second and ask: “Am I looking at this out of fear, or because I actually need to?” If it’s fear, close it and go do the next right thing instead.

2. 2

   If your boss or a client offers you extra money today for extra hours, and taking it means skipping dinner with your family or your kid’s game, say no to the money and yes to the people — today, not “next time.”

3. 3

   Write down, on paper or your phone, the one thing you’re grinding hardest for right now — a bonus, a deal, a side hustle — and tell God straight, out loud, before noon: “I’ll work for it, but I won’t worship it.”

PrayerGod, keep me from working like money is the thing that’s going to save me — help me hold it loose today.