Why Wealth Won't Satisfy

Have you ever played the lotteries or games of chance? Have you ever invested in a pyramid scheme with the hope of reaping a huge windfall? I certainly have and in both cases too. My hope was that I could quit my dead-end job and live in luxury.

The trouble is that "easy money" isn't easy to come by and it easily escapes any one who receives it. Proverbs 13:11 (BBE) certainly explains that fact. "Wealth quickly got will become less; but he who gets a store by the work of his hands will have it increased."

Solomon also wrote in Proverbs 23:5 (BBE), "Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven."

And even if a person gains wealth righteously, how can a parent know if the children will be wise with their inheritance? As Solomon noted in Ecclesiastes 2:21 (BBE), "Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil."

Remember too what Jesus said regarding riches. Matthew 16:26 (BBE) reads, "For what profit has a man, if he gets all the world with the loss of his life? or what will a man give in exchange for his life?"

But is it wrong to accumulate riches if one is a Christian? Poor people can't give as much as the rich. Look at what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 11:24 (BBE). "A man may give freely, and still his wealth will be increased; and another may keep back more than is right, but only comes to be in need."

So, what's the best level of wealth for us? We read the answer in Proverbs 30:8 (BBE). "Put far from me all false and foolish things: do not give me great wealth or let me be in need, but give me only enough food:"

What I hope to post on Saturday is right in line with this post. Wealth alone won't satisfy.