Articles
Earthly Treasures
Earthly Treasures
By Mike Willis
The Bible not only provides advice regarding how to be prosperous in life, it also warns that one should not make the accumulation of riches the goal of his life. Here are some reasons not to set your heart on being rich:
1. You will never be satisfied with riches. Solomon, a rich man and king over Israel, wrote, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity” (Eccl. 5:10). How many rich men have you known who had all of the money they wanted? A satisfied rich man is rare; he is always thinking about his next venture. Striving to get rich is like drinking salt water, the more you drink the thirstier you become. Greed is unquenchable.
2. You can’t take your money with you. The wise king Solomon wrote, “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand” (Eccl. 5:15). The kings of Egypt thought that one could take their treasures with them when they died. The tomb of King Tutankhamun (c. 1332 – 1323 BC) was discovered in 1922 by Harold Carter. It was filled with treasures and things King Tutankhamun thought he would need in the afterlife. But he could not take his riches with him into eternity. There are no U-haul trailers filled with money behind the hearse.
3. You may lose your money. The Lord Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21). There are many ways to lose money. Some of the ways one can lose his money are beyond one’s control.
Beware of making the accumulation of riches the highest or ultimate good (the summon bonum) of your life. When you come to the end of your road, it will leave you unsatisfied.
