“I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him. Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand. This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind? All his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.” Eccl. 5:13-17
The parable of the wise man and the foolish man illustrate the destruction of wealth. Riches is a foundation that is sand. It can crumble, as many are discovering in these hard economic times. When our foundation is on money, jobs, health, and family, we are destroyed when that foundation is destroyed. When our foundation is built upon the rock of Jesus Christ the house stands in adversity.
It is a great disaster when people lose what they have obtained and accumulated. There is a Biblical principle that is so obvious, but so ignored. You cannot take it with you. Everything you have on this earth will be taken from you eventually. Sooner or later, you are going to lose it all.
Why do so many people have personal economic disasters? Solomon, who was many times a billionaire knows that answer. Part of the answer is discontentment. People want more than what they can afford and their lives are centered around what they possess instead of Who possesses them.
If we look beyond overspending to the root cause, we often find a low self-esteem or a need for significance or approval. There really is an emotional disaster inside and the finances become a symptom of the real problem. When people lose it all there is nothing for which to fall back on and there is emotional devastation.
Many are devastated financially, but more than that, their hope is in their possession and without their possessions and wealth they are lost and in despair. Friend, whatever the cause of the loss, money will never last.
When Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get to heaven, he was trying to shock his listeners into an understanding the damage that wealth causes spiritually. There are people who cheat, steal, and murder for money, there are people who abuse the rights of workers, fudge on the quality of products they are selling, or take bribes, and misrepresent goods for the sake of profit, all to no avail for the Lord cannot tolerate the ways we make money at others expenses.
The disaster is when the God of gold damns our souls to hell, for we have sought the foundations of life in the ways of the world and wealth and not in Christ.
Application: Temptation comes when we focus on what we don’t have.
Prayer: Lord, help me always to seek You first. Guard my heart from the love of money, things and pleasures of this life.
