18/01/2026 - Ps Matthew Destry

Proverbs 3:9–10

Honour the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your produce;

then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Thought one: honour comes before abundance

Thought two: firstfruits train the heart

Thought three: abundance follows alignment

“The retribution principle”

Wisdom assumes that creation is morally ordered because God is good. There’s a grain to the universe, and sin is living against the grain. When you live aligned with God’s ways, life tends toward fruitfulness. When you live misaligned, life tends toward fracture.

But Proverbs isn’t naïve. It’s not like Job’s friends. It’s not saying, “Good things always happen to good people.” Ecclesiastes and Job exist in the canon precisely to stop us turning Proverbs into simplistic guarantees. The Bible has this exact internal conversation: wisdom without humility becomes cruelty.

1. Steward your words before you steward your wealth

2. See money as an entrustment, not a trophy

3. Let money serve the season you are in

For teens:

For young adults:

For families:

For over 55s:

4. Practice generosity somewhere concrete and consistent

True wealth is not what you accumulate. It is who you trust. Jesus is not just our example. He is our source. When Christ is Lord, money is liberated, and wisdom becomes a way of life.