It Might Be More Wise For You To Have Little Of...
Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.
Proverbs 16:8
We live in an age where bigger is always better. We long for people to notice us. We long for people to be influenced by us. We want them to see that we are bigger and therefore better. This is the age of social media.
In this age, we will cater to what the general public desires so that we can use them to get what we want. And here is what we’ve seen over the years: Values are always changing.
Do you know someone who used to have one set of convictions but now has another? Have you seen someone who used to embrace one ethical standpoint but now has another that is more popular? Before we think about others, we need to examine ourselves. We all do this to some extent.
What Is Truly Good?
The problem is that this is the exact opposite of what is considered to be truly “good”. When God made the world, He looked at it and declared that it was “good”. When He made Adam, He said it was “not good that man should be alone”. So, He made him a Helper who was fit for him. After God made Eve, He then declared that Adam and Eve together were “very good” (literally in the Hebrew it says they were “good good”).
Don’t we want what’s good? Don’t we long for someone to look at us and say “good”?
This word for “good” is the same word used in Proverbs 16:8 when it is translated as “better”. Were we to have bad grammar, we could be translate this as: “Good-er is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.” Do we want what’s “Good-er”? This is what this proverb is about.
What Is “Good-er”?
It is much more desirable to have a little [insert category here] as long as you have righteousness than to have great [insert same category as above] if it is filled with injustice.
As much as it hurts, let’s think about what might be better were we to only have a little of it as long as we have righteousness.
Better is a little…
Money
Beauty
Respect in our vocation
Influence in our community
Church size
House
Vacation time
“Strategic opportunities”
Accomplishments in our field of work
Friend group
Social media following
Blog posts views
Size of our business
List of clients
Wardrobe (clothing, shoes, etc.)
Financial security
Political security
Job security
Budget for food
Place of living (city, town, etc.)
Possessing the latest technology
Approval from others
Expensive vacations
Church influence
Social connections
Athletic ability
Musical talent
Keeping up with what’s trending
Job opportunities
Financial portfolio
Why Is It Better To Have A Little As Long As We Have Righteousness?
The key to understanding this is knowing that it is much better if you only have a little of [insert category here] as long as you have righteousness. Righteousness is the key word!
The Hebrew term for righteousness contains two ideas:
Righteous fulfilling of God’s covenant.
Being declared righteous through faith in the Covenant Keeper.
I don’t see why we shouldn’t take both of these for what this proverb means. It is far better to have little and be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ than to have much. Possessing Jesus Christ is possessing an infinite God. Possessing Jesus is possessing the Triune God. For when we get Jesus we get the Father as well and that does not happen unless the Holy Spirit enables us to possess Jesus.
Our Triune God is of infinite worth and value! Having Him is what makes the gospel good news. Therefore, if we have God then what do we not have? “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you have my lot” (Psalm 16:5). “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Getting God is getting the gospel! What makes hell so awful is the forever loss of ever getting God as our portion. What makes heaven so amazing is the forever gain of having God as Friend!
It is also much better to have little if we walk in righteousness. To be sure, we don’t walk in righteousness in order to fulfill the covenant. Only Jesus could do that (Romans 5:12-21). We walk in righteousness because He enables us to. It is only by union with the Covenant Keeper that we can live in light of God’s Law.
Because Jesus Christ is infinite in glory and beauty that means His Law (which reveals who He is) is also glorious and beautiful. Embracing God’s ways are good for us! That is why we walk in righteousness. That means this: It is far better to live an ethically sound life and to have little than to embrace unbiblical ethical ideas and receive much.
Is it really worth it to receive admiration from others, awards and accomplishments in our field, notoriety among our peers, and groups of people flocking around us if we aren’t living in righteousness? If we are believers, we will all come upon many moments in our lives when we will have a choice: Embrace God’s ways or Our ways.
Every realm of our lives must be before the face of God. His Word must interpret and inform every possible field of study and vocation. The moment we contradict the Bible or hold something higher than it is the moment we forsake righteousness. The Christian is someone who is learning to repent of their personal worldview and learning to embrace God’s worldview. This is what it means to pursue righteousness.
When we pursue this, let us not be surprised when people look down upon us. Jesus has told us to expect this. John 15:20 says, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”
This is what it means to pick up our cross every day. We learn to die to ourselves, our ideas, our interpretations of life, our values, and our priorities in order to take up Christ and His gospel of grace.
It is far better to have a little and to have Christ and walk in His ways than to have much yet forfeit our souls.