Can you identify the greatest selling and most popular book in history? The answer can be found in "The Top Ten of Everything" by Russell Ash.

The Bible holds the top spot. No one actually knows how many copies of the Bible have been printed, sold, or distributed. The Bible Society's effort to account for the number printed between 1816 and 1975 produced the figure around 2.4 billion. A more recent survey, for the years up to 1992, puts it closer to 6 billion in more than 2,000 languages and dialects. Whatever the exact number, the Bible is by far the best selling book in history. Few people understand it's also
the best selling book of the year-year after year. Does this book have something important to tell us? The Bible has valuable things to say about numerous life issues but I'd like to focus on issues of money and living.

If you were to survey a dozen prominent and successful people and ask them to identify the keys to their achievements, many would agree that a spiritual ingredient helped shape a life of harmony, balance, peace, and prosperity.

Here are ten key bible verses related to money and living, all taken from the
respective chapters in the Book of Proverbs:

-10:4 "Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich."
-11:4 "Riches won't help on the day of judgment, but right living is a safeguard against death."
-13:7 "Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor."
-13:11 "Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows."
-14:23 "Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty."
-16:9 "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."
-19:17 "If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord-and He repays you!"
-21:5 "Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty."
-22:6 "Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it."
-23:4 "Don't weary yourself trying to get rich. Why waste your time? For riches can disappear as though they had the wings of a bird."

Possibly the most common but most damaging sin in our society is greed, or materialism. Many people drain themselves attempting to produce more and more money so they can buy more and do more. There is nothing bad with money; it's the endless pursuit of our own pleasure that God condemns. Real joy comes from serving God and others with the things God has given us.

If life seems to be one constant struggle after another or wholesome ideals have eluded you, time spent reading and contemplating daily on messages derived from bible verses can be encouraging, inspirational, and rewarding.