Your wealth is not the paper money you hold. Your true wealth and riches is your ability to create and capture economic value in the long run. This is the reason the government does not simply print money and hand it to poor people, lifting them out of poverty once and for all. Wealth has to be created. You create it by leading a productive lifestyle. Poor people are unable to create economic value in the long run. That is the true source of their poverty. Christians need to understand that wealth is not about looking for silver and gold. It is about producing something that the world will exchange their silver and gold for.
There have been several reports of buried money being returned to the banks in Nigeria. This is because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to redesign their currency. This is the result of people thinking paper money is wealth. People who actually understand wealth creation and productivity do not bury their money underground. Let us recall the parable of the talents. And how the master was angry, “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.” (Matthew 25:26-27 ESV) The Lord considers it wickedness and laziness to bury money in the ground. Money that ought to be deployed into productive use within an economy.
Most west african countries lack any sense of purpose or direction. This is why it is not surprising that people bury their ill-gotten money under the ground. When you steal money or live as a rent-seeker, you will never consider ways of putting your mind to work. You need to understand that money is not what makes you rich. The money you have is a reflection of your productivity. You do not become a millionaire because someone gave you one million. You become a millionaire the day you can create something valuable at the level of millions. Do not desire to steal money or live off the largesse of others. It is wickedness and laziness. Desire to create economic value.
