WORTHLESS RICHES

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.

Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. This too is a grievous evil:

As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?

All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.

Ecclesiastes 5:8-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Is there anyone who doesn’t occasionally have a dream about riches?

Maybe but I would guess they would be few if people are really honest in answering the question.

Look at the world we live in and isn’t all about money for the most part. It really is the common denominator that nearly everyone shares. In order to live, one needs currency, a way to afford the things needed to survive or live decently like food, shelter, clothing, and transportation. We all need it and it is always a matter of our attention so much so that we can find ourselves thinking about it and even dreaming about it. We often long for a day when we no longer need to worry about money because we would have it in such abundance, we would have all that we could ever ask for or want. It’s a part of our human nature.

But consider this for a moment. The Bible doesn’t exactly paint a rosy picture about riches. In fact, one gets the impression from reading a little of God’s word that the riches we see as seemingly worth a lot are actually pretty worthless and even something we should avoid instead of yearn for. Look at today’s passage from the 5th chapter of Ecclesiastes:

If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.

Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. This too is a grievous evil:

As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?

All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.

Look closely within these words and you will find a number of negatives connected to the matter of monetary wealth:

1. Riches can lead people who have a lot to want more, even at the expense of the less fortunate.

If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

The king was the richest of the rich as he ruled over his kingdom. He could have ensured all his people lived well and still have plenty to live lavishly. But that wasn’t what happened. The king, even with an abundance of riches, chose to keep the poor in oppression while continuing to collect for himself from the efforts of their labor. It’s little wonder why Jesus made this statement when speaking to a rich young man who balked at the suggestion that he sell everything he had to give to the needy:

“Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Luke 18:25

The rich young man was given a choice to hold onto your riches or be charitable and gain eternal life, to choose the treasures of the earth or the treasures of heaven. Unfortunately, the love of money was greater than the desire for heaven for the young man which led Jesus to make His statement. Sadly, I think there are plenty just like him in today’s world, those who would pass on eternal worth to hold onto worthless riches.

2. People who are rich are addicted to money and are never satisfied.

Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). For a person with riches, their heart is often with their wealth and thus their love is there as well for the word of our Lord is truth. In fact, the infatuation for riches can dominate the life of the wealthy person, so much so that they are never satisfied. They could never come up with a tangible answer to the question, “How much is enough?” because their appetite for money is insatiable. This why the Bible cautions us by saying:

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24

3. Riches bring increased anxiety.

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.

The rich spend many a restless night worrying about the money they have and considering what they need to do to get more of it while the one who has less sleeps sweetly. The only time the laborer would not sleep as well like the rich person would be if they were consistently thinking about money instead of trusting in the One who knows our needs and provides for us. Remember, we can’t serve God and money. Our stress, worry, anxiety, and yes, our rest will depend on which one we choose to serve.

4. Riches don’t benefit but rather harm their owner.

I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners.

In a vicious movie titled, The Purge, a futuristic look into our nation takes us to a day when society is allowed to commit crimes legally for a 12 hour period through the evening and early morning in order for people to rid themselves of pent up aggression (thus the “purge” in the title). Those crimes included murder and anyone could become a potential murderer to include two couples in an affluent neighborhood who decided to go after a family down the street because they had gained a lot of wealth by selling expensive security systems to everyone. The wealth the family gained actually made them a target.

Today, we don’t have sanctioned nationwide murder but riches and extravagance do often make the wealthy targets for those who would like to take a part of what they have. We hear about it all the time in the news.

5. Riches can be lost and the owner of the wealth leaves their heirs empty-handed.

I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.

People with riches often become so self-centered  and selfish that they care only about what they have at the expense of others they could benefit to include their own children. They can adopt an attitude that feels like what they have earned is theirs and so why should they worry about entitlements. Their children should follow their lead and earn their own riches.

Sadly, greed typically ends up bad for the greedy person. More than a few rich people have lost everything, usually after entering into some high risk venture that promised them even more than what they already had. Not only did this leave them empty but they had nothing left to pass onto the children God blessed them with.

6. Riches are worthless because you can’t take them with you.

Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.

We came into this world with nothing. No clothing. No shelter. No money. We were empty except for the gift of life. There’s something to be said about the simplicity of all that, don’t you think?

But unfortunately, that simplicity is replaced with the complexities of the world and its many enticements, most of which revolve around money. And if we’re not careful, we will get entrapped by those enticements to the point that we forget our time here on earth is only temporary. Everyone who is born into the world is going to die and they will take out of the world what they had when they entered: nothing.

Given this, there needs to be more to life than money and this leads me to the last point and conclusion of this devotion.

7. Riches bring darkness, frustration, affliction, and anger.

This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.

God’s word from 1 Timothy adds this:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Want to have a life void of true joy, peace, and light? Then place your total emphasis in life on your money and pierce yourself with many griefs like frustration, darkness, affliction, and anger. Frankly, doesn’t sound like the kind of life I will ever want to live.

Friends, the word of the Lord is speaking to us loudly today. Do you hear it?

A life that is focused on riches is a life that is as worthless as the riches themselves. Conversely, a life centered on the Lord, the Provider of every good and perfect thing to all who place their faith, hope, and trust in Him, is priceless and invaluable, not only now but forever more through Christ Jesus.

Trust me, place your focus on the treasures of heaven and leave behind the treasures of the earth.

It will be totally worth it.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com