For The Love Of Money

Scripture

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! 

~Ecclesiastes 5:10, NLT

Quote

We can love money without having it just as we can have money without loving it.

~J. C. Ryle

A comedian once said, “Money can’t buy love but it can buy stuff and I love stuff.” The bible tells us again and again that money cannot produce contentment or satisfaction but we all have the desire to learn for ourselves. Solomon was both rich and powerful. He understood the principle of government and taxation. He knew that if a person could secure the right appointment within the political system, that person could use this political power to enrich himself. In verse 9 he confessed...“Even the king milks the land for his own profit.” It is rare for a government officials to resist the temptation to enrich themselves through the abuse of political power. Government officials have a network for protecting one another which makes it all but impossible to root out corruption. In laymen’s terms, it will take a miracle to drain the swamp. As I have said before, “If you drove the parasites out of Washington D.C., there would not be enough people left to open the buildings and cut on the lights.”

Both the Broadman and the New American Commentaries give us a list of reasons why the love of money produces futility and why wealth can be dangerous. The Broadman has six and the New American seven. I have combined them and put them in my own words.

  1. Ecclesiastes 5:8-9–Acquiring wealth can become addictive and lead to abuse. People who fall in love with money can never get enough; they are as addicted as people on drugs. With money comes power; with power comes abuse and oppression. Remember what James said in his epistle {2:6}… But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
  2. Ecclesiastes 5:10–Wealth never satisfies.
  3. Ecclesiastes 5:11–Wealth attracts human parasites or leeches. Wealthy people deal daily with a line of beggars. As your money increases so will the number of sponges around you.
  4. Ecclesiastes 5:12–Wealth can cause anxiety and restlessness.
  5. Ecclesiastes 5:13–Wealth can lead to ‘hoarding’ which harms the ‘saver.’
  6. Ecclesiastes 5:14–Wealth is an insecure basis for happiness. It can be lost, over night or in an instant. Job lost everything in one day. There is no enduring security in wealth.
  7. Ecclesiastes 5:15–Wealth cannot be taken with us when we die.

Let me assure you that I believe everything Solomon says about the pitfalls of wealth to be true. I am thankful that I am not wealthy. Wealth carries with it more responsibility than I want. In my opinion, it is a heavy burden to bear and I’m not looking for a heavy burden. Jesus said in Luke 12:48, “To whom much is given, much is required for their responsibility is greater.” {LNT} I know people who could build a hundred houses in Guatemala and never miss it but they are not going to build one. They have a greedy philosophy, “I’m going to get all I can, can all I get, and sit on the lid so no one else can get it.” It is a sin to take wealth out of God’s economy. Remember the story of the unfaithful steward [Matthew 25/Luke 19]…

But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’ “‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 
 
What is wicked about hiding money in the ground or a jar or a mattress? Two things come to mind: [1] It’s not your money and [2] You have taken it our of circulation so that it helps no one. God cares about people. He gives to us so that we can give to others. When we hoard, we sin against His purpose for money and wealth. Jesus said, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” People who try to maintain or keep their wealth will lose it. C.S. Lewis says, “Nothing is ours to keep until we first give it away.” Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.” It is one of the many paradoxes that governs our faith: we live by dying, we win by losing and we get by giving.
  • Big Mama said it would rain today and its raining. I like rain and I like to study when it is raining so may the LORD’s will be done.
  • Thanks for the prayers yesterday. Cecil Linderman’s COLS went well and Jo Ann told me they had plenty of food. Thank You for helping Holly with the meal.
  • Got a report from Karen, she is making slow progress but we are thrilled with progress.
  • Don’t forget the NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER, May 3, 11:30 a.m. at the fountain in front of Central Baptist Church.
  • Enjoying my time with GRACE POINT. I do love these people but I got disappointing news last night, they don’t have the Wednesday Suppers in the summer. Just kidding, I understand the work involved, I did it for years.
  • After leaving the cemetery yesterday evening, I forgot that I didn’t live in Danville and turned South on Johnson Chapel instead of North. Realizing my mistake, I cut through on Maddox Road and low and behold there was Mr. Anderson stuck in the ditch on his lawn mower. Ronnie Lewis had stopped to help but he didn’t have a chain. I grabbed my out of the tool box and we pulled him right out. When I got back in the truck I said to myself, “I just thought I made a mistake, the LORD was guiding me this way to help Mr. Anderson.” Aint God good!

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