Scripture Daily

Context No. 2507 of 4322 · Tobit

Context · Reflection

Tobit 4:17-21: in context

17Pour out your bread on the burial of the just, and give nothing to sinners. 18Ask counsel of every man who is wise, and don’t despise any counsel that is profitable. 19Bless the Lord your God at all times, and ask of him that your ways may be made straight, and that all your paths and counsels may prosper; for every nation has no counsel; but the Lord himself gives all good things, and he humbles whom he will, as he will. And now, my child, remember my commandments, and let them not be blotted out of your mind. 20And now I explain to you about the ten talents of silver, which I left in trust with Gabael the son of Gabrias at Rages of Media. 21And fear not, my child, because we are made poor. You have much wealth, if you fear God, and depart from all sin, and do that which is pleasing in his sight.”

Tobit, expecting to die, gives his son Tobias a long stream of counsel, and near the end he redefines what makes a person rich. He mentions money left in trust with a relative, but then adds the thing that matters more: do not be afraid, my child, because we have become poor. You have great wealth if you fear God, and turn from all sin, and do what pleases him.

A father in reduced circumstances tells his son not to measure the family's worth by its bank. You have great wealth, he says, and then names it: the fear of God and a life turned from sin. It is a startling recalibration. The real estate of a person's life is not the silver in trust but their reverence for God and their integrity, and by that measure a poor man can be wealthy and a rich man destitute. Tobit is not spiritualizing away real hardship; he is telling his son where the durable riches actually are.

When I take stock of my wealth, do I count money, or do I count the fear of God and a life turned from sin, as Tobit taught his son?

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