LEARNING DAILY

 

1 Timothy 6:10, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

“There is nothing wrong for Christians to have money as long as that money does not have them” (DJSB). You have heard that before, haven’t you? When Paul wrote this to Timothy, he was warning you and me to be very careful about how we accumulate money and wealth. When money becomes the focus of a person’s life, it can become easy to fall into greed. Greed is certainly an obstacle to living on the narrow way to eternal life in God’s kingdom because it can lead to all sorts of evil behavior. Paul’s warning about the pursuit comes after the admonition to be content with what you have.

 

All of us know someone that is driven to accumulate wealth; more than likely that drive has caused them to fall into accumulating it in any way they can. That is a general statement! We certainly see it today by those who have found ways to get and use another person’s credit, credit cards, and other information to take away another’s wealth. Fraud is a growing business, a very successful business that is ungodly and evil.

 

Solomon had a lot to say about money in Ecclesiastes 5:10-17. You are going to have to look up the verses and read them for yourself and to check me to be sure I have summarized them correctly. As you read, I bet you know of someone who typifies what Solomon wrote about. Here goes. The more of wealth that you have, the more you want (v. 10). There is never enough gold or silver, never enough dollars, never enough land, never enough toys and stuff! The person wants more and bigger stuff because that is what drives one’s definition of success. The more you have, the more you spend (v. 11). How many times have you heard you have to spend money to make money? How much money is spent on advertising and literature mailed out? That old saying must be true. You better buy gold and silver before your money is no good. But how do you spend that gold coin that you bought for $935.43 (or whatever the coin cost) on an item to eat? Will change be made? The more a person has the more he worries about keeping it (v. 12). I have met some very generous people who have a lot of money. I have also met some who will not part with what they have unless it causes them to receive more in return. Or they worry continually about someone trying to take it from them. The more a person has, the more he loses (v. 13-14). I am amazed to read about those who lose billions when the stock market takes a downward turn. And, the last thing Solomon says in verses 14-17 is the more a person has the more he leaves behind. A person can spend a lifetime building wealth to leave it to someone else when he dies. You know I can have fun with this thought! A person has no control over what happens to all he acquired while he lived; his heirs get it and do what they want. He had better have taught them well.

 

Money and the abundance of material things do not give meaning to one’s life. In general, the honest, hard-working person who lays their head down after a good day’s work sleeps peacefully; those Christians with wealth and material things who use what they have to further the kingdom of God, sleep well because they know God has given them what they have. They lay treasures in heaven with what God has given them.

 

Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek the kingdom of God and He will supply all the things we need. You and I are to diligently seek His righteousness knowing that when we do, He will supply all the necessities of life we need. When a person is consumed with gaining wealth and material possessions he is out of balance and will be disappointed in the end. True joy and happiness is only found in the blessings of God on one’s life.  

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible