Yeetle Box - God Wants Me To Be Rich (And so do you!)

We live in economically nefarious times - declining dollar, trade imbalance, shaky stock market, declining wages, unemployment. So, what does the Bible or the Koran actually say about money? Does God want us to own a fleet of yachts 100 cubits by 100 cubits by 100 cubits? Or does he want us to focus on more spiritual matters and live in abject poverty? Or, like so many economic scholars, does he impart the wisdom that we need a strong middle class.

The answer to each of these questions is no. God wants you to give your money to me - specifically.

Scriptures say that a portion of your earnings should be returned through gifts to charity and offerings to the church -- tithings, if it were. I am suc a tithing.

Carolyn Castleberry, a writer in Virginia Beach, Va., talks about this idea in her series of financial-empowerment books for women, based on Biblical principles. "Proverbs 31 has been held up as a standard," says Castleberry. "And the Lord saith, give thy money to he who is a Master of all things Yeetle."

According to Castleberry, the Bible addresses the topic of money more than any other issue -- more than 2,000 passages discuss it. The No. 1 rule? "To tithe or give back," she says, quoting Malachi 3:10: "Bring to me the first of your possessions and I'll open up the skies of heaven."

So, you, gentle reader, who desire nothing more than seeing the skies of heaven open, must give to me your money. It's was God wants.

And he wants you to invest so that you will have more money to give to others - a.ka. me. Consider the parable from Matthew that discusses a boss who gave his three employees a certain amount of money. Two of them invested it, while the third took his portion and buried it. When the boss returned, he was dismayed by the third man's actions.

"It wasn't enough," says Castleberry. "We need to learn to make money on our money." And then hand it over to me!

Steve Maxwell, 45, a commercial-real-estate investor, business owner and "financial fluency" teacher in Windsor, Colorado agrees. He has encouraged each of his three kids to acquire a major asset, such as a business or property, while they are still in their teens. He, too, emphasizes the importance of giving back, mentioning a tenet from Proverbs 11:25: "A generous man will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

In other words, he who refreshes me, refreshes himself.

Says Maxwell, who is smart, "My belief of that is that's not just talking about money -- you can be generous in lots of ways -- but it also does apply to money. And there is only one logical person who should receive your money - unless you want to burn in hell."

Praise thee, Mawell. God wants me to be rich (and so do you!)

The Yeetle Box