Anybody that knows anything about cooking knows a crock pot is a must-have in the kitchen. A crockpot is a counter cooking kitchen appliance used to simmer and slow boil foods (the operative word here is, slow) at low temperatures. It is a great way to get the most flavor out of meats! Cooking with a crockpot is usually pretty simple. Just add water, the meat, the seasoning, and the vegetables. Put it all in the pot, turn it on, and wait. You should check on the meal from time to time, and make small adjustments, be there is not a lot to it.

Microwaves are very different from crock pots, but they are also a must-have in any modern kitchen. Microwaves heat up foods by using high-intensity radiation waves to excite the molecules in the food. As the molecules get excited, they move. And this movement creates heat which warms the food. Whole meals can be put together on a plate or in some plastic or ceramic container and the microwave can be used to heat them up; taking them from frozen to editable in just a few minutes.

Crock pots are slow and deliberate while microwaves are seen as the quick and easy option. When it comes to building wealth, we should be crock pots and not microwaves. Building wealth is not meant to be a fast process. God gives us directions as it relates to wealth building but they are not meant to be a formula that takes us from rags-to-riches overnight! Building wealth comes from consistently making smart decisions over a long period of time. I know there are examples in the bible where situations turn from the worst in a blink-of-an-eye, and that speaks to the awesomeness and omnipotence of God. And we take those stories, as we should, and use them for encouragement and as fuel to power through the tough, and often unpredictable, situations that happen in life. But we have to ask ourselves, ‘is that how it is supposed to be on a regular basis? Are we to live in a state of desperation our whole lives waiting for God to rescue us?’ Absolutely not. We are to live victoriously. And we can start to live victoriously by consistently making victorious decisions. Financially speaking, if we steadily save and invest and constantly avoid debt we will prosper. I guarantee it because the bible says so!

So, what does the bible say about “instant wealth”? Proverbs 13:11 says “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever will gain little by little, will prosper.” Proverbs 28:20 says, “A faithful man will abound in blessings, but whosoever rushes to be rich, will not go unpunished.” And Proverbs 20:21 says, “An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end thereof shall not be blessed.” These are just a few but, nevertheless, strong warnings against “instant wealth”. But why is God so concerned about quick riches? It’s not the money that concerns Him! Money, in and of itself, is amoral; meaning it is neither good nor bad. Money is just a tool. The same money that is used to do something harmful, like buy drugs, can be used to do something good, like feed the homeless. The money doesn’t care! It is the character of the one who manages the money is what concerns God. Money in the hands of the immoral is spent immorally, and money in the hands of the responsible is spent responsibly. God wants his people to have good financial character, and good character does not come quickly or easily. It is forged over time through consistency.

Just as food that has been carefully prepared and slow cooked for hours is so much more flavorful than food that is cooked in the microwave, our financial future will so much more filling if we take the slow and steady approach vs the get-rich-over-night method. It just takes time to build wealth. I know we want it now, but God has warned us against the “quick buck”. The sooner we accept that obtaining wealth is a process and not an event, the sooner we can get started moving toward rightfully possessing what God has decreed as ours! I don’t know about you but I’m ready to get cooking. In next months article, we will discuss the ingredients we want to include our financial recipe. So, get your mind right and get over the fact that is going to take some time. We have work to do and wealth to build. Be blessed.