Riches in Christian preaching often symbolize both blessing and temptation, highlighting the spiritual dangers of wealth when it becomes an idol or a source of pride. Illustrations commonly use imagery of treasure, decay, or snares to warn believers to prioritize eternal riches over earthly gain, reflecting passages like 1 Timothy 6:10 and Matthew 6:19-21.
Wealth can dangerously lead many to destruction through the devil's influence.
Mr. Cecil went to see a rich hearer, and said, "I understand you are very dangerously situated." The man replied, "I am not aware of it."—"I thought it probable you were not; and therefore I called upon you. I hear you are getting rich: take care; for it is the road by which the Devil leads thousands to destruction."
Worldly riches can hinder salvation unless overcome by God's almighty grace.
Nothing less than almighty grace of God can enable a man taken up with riches of world, to get into heaven. Riches, if under our feet, are stepping stones, but if upon our backs are a curse. We may have great possessions or they may have us
Gold mining regions show desolation, warning against valuing riches above better things.
Did the eye ever rest upon a more utter desolation than that which surrounds the gold mines near Goldau in the Hartz mountains? It is worse than a howling wilderness, it is a desert with its bowels torn out, and scattered in horrid confusion. More or less this is true of all gold mining regions, and Humboldt, when writing of the Pearl Coast, says that it presents the same aspect of misery as the countries of gold and diamonds. Is it so then? Are riches so near akin to horror? Lord, let me set my affections on better things, and seek for less dangerous wealth.
Riches can blind people to their spiritual peril and eternal judgment.
A holy woman was wont to say of the rich—"They are hemmed round with no common misery; they go down to hell without thinking of it, because their staircase thither is of gold and porphyry."
Over-anxiety for riches risks ruin; true wisdom values moderate contentment.
Do not be over-anxious about riches. Get as much of true wisdom and goodness as you can; but be satisfied with a very moderate portion of this world's good. Riches may prove a curse as well as a blessing.
Imaginary riches cannot satisfy the soul's true thirst; only God can.
A Russian folk-story tells of a man who entered a diamond-mine in quest of riches. He filled his pockets with precious stones, and forthwith flung them all away to make room for larger ones. Thirst coming on, he was dismayed to find that there was no water. In his delirium he imagined he could hear the flow of water, which proved, however, to be the flow of gems and jewels running in rivers and falling in cascades.
Only one thing could meet his need in his dire distress, and that was, not imaginary wealth, but real water. So it is with the soul. (Text.)
Many live in spiritual poverty unaware of the rich joy God has prepared for them.
George MacDonald, in one of his stories, tells of a father and his daughter who lived in an old Scotch castle in poverty, while all the time in a secret cupboard were masses of jewels which had been put there by an ancestor long years before.
Many a soul is living in poverty of life and experience equally ignorant of the wealth of joy and service that has been laid up for him in the purpose of God. (Text.)
John Connally had been governor of Texas, a candidate for President, and made millions in the oil business. Just before he died, he had to file for bankruptcy. He was around $48 million in debt. He kept an embroidered pillow by his side: “It's not a sin to be rich anymore, it's a miracle.” He commented, “Rather prophetic, isn't it?”
Series of important articles on New Testament and money.
Articles:
Hard Sayings of Jesus. [see below...]
Investing in What Lasts.
Enjoying Creation - Within Limits
Called to Share
The Christian Ideal
-----------------------------------------
Hard Sayings of Jesus:
1) Are Christians any different than non-believers?
a) Jesus has radical views on money.
b) Christians spend pretty much like everyone else.
3) Hard sayings of Jesus. [CT, 5/12/89, p.28]
a) Harder for rich than camel through needle's eye. Mt 19:16-30
b) Give up all to be my disciple. Luke 14:25-33
1> Not just willingness, but abandonment.
c) Treasure and heart, God vs. Mammon.
4) Balancing statements.
a) Rich believers in NT. Lk 19:1-10
b) Command to carry purses. Lk 22:35-36
5) Wealth creates a false sense of security.
a) We cannot avoid a continual tension.
"The Cross covers precisely the distance, for each of us, between what we
attain and what God demands - between our striving and our arriving."
b) How much to give away? More.
Ephesians sermon series:
The Exceedingly Great Power Of God Ephesians 1:15-23
I. There is more to the Christian life than a "decision."
II. The Prayer.
III. The hope of God's calling. 1:18
IV. The riches of God's inheritance. 1:18
V. The exceeding greatness of God's power. 1:19
VI. How great is the power?
VII. The Church as the channel of Jesus' power.
A. Focusing on Jesus. 1:20-22
B. Experiencing Jesus through the Church. [1622]
*
Although Wesley, like the apostles, found that his preaching did not greatly affect the mighty nor the noble, he numbered some families of good position among his followers. On one occasion, under his preaching, a gentleman’s daughter, a girl remarkable for her beauty, was profoundly impressed by his exhortations. After the sermon, Wesley was invited to her father’s house for luncheon, and with himself one of his preachers was entertained.
This preacher, like many of the class of that time, was a man of plain manners, and not conscious of the restraint of good society. The fair young Methodist sat beside him at the table, and he noticed that she wore a number of rings. During a pause in the meal, the preacher took hold of the young lady’s hand, and, raising it in the air, called Wesley’s attention to the sparkling jewels. “What do you think of this, sir,” he said, “for a Methodist hand?” The girl turned crimson.
For Wesley, with his known and expressed aversion to finery, the question was a peculiarly awkward one. But the aged evangelist showed a tact which Chesterfield might have envied. He looked up with a quiet, benevolent smile, and simply said, “The hand is very beautiful.”
The blushing beauty had expected something far different from a reproof wrapped up with such felicity in a compliment. She had the good sense to say nothing; but when, a few hours later, she again appeared in Wesley’s presence the beautiful hand was stripped of every ornament except those which nature had given.
A poor tramp had got lost in the woods in Michigan, many years
before that timbered section had paths running through it. The poor
fellow had tried his best to get out, but he could not. At length as
evening came, tired, he built a fire and sat down by it. Presently,
two men appeared -- a wealthy father and his son. Drawing close to the
tramp, the father said, "Sir, we are lost and cannot find our way
home. If you will direct us how to get out of these woods, I shall pay
you well for it." The tramp answered not a word. Then the father spoke
again, only to be met with silence. The third time he spoke the tramp
looked up and said, "Man, I am lost also." The wealthy man offered
$5,000 if the tramp could lead him out, but the only reply was, "I am
lost also." It was decided that the old man would stay by the fire
with the tramp while his son made another effort to find a way home.
The son eventually did get out and then sought to return with a party
to find his father and the tramp, but they searched in vain. In a few
months the skeletons of two men were found by the ashes of the fire --
the flesh had all been eaten off the bones by the beasts) and the only
way they could distinguish the wealthy man from the tramp was by some
gold lying beside one of the skeletons. There was no other difference.
The rich man and the poor man -- both lost!
William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."
A FIR-TREE said boastingly to the Bramble, "You are useful for
nothing at all; while I am everywhere used for roofs and houses." The
Bramble answered: 'You poor creature, if you would only call to mind
the axes and saws which are about to hew you down, you would have
reason to wish that you had grown up a Bramble, not a Fir-Tree."
Better poverty without care, than riches with worries. Blessed are
the poor for they shall see the Kingdom of God.
A COUNTRY MOUSE invited a Town Mouse, an intimate friend, to pay him
a visit and partake of his country fare. As they were on the bare
plowlands, eating there wheat-stocks and roots pulled up from the
hedgerow, the Town Mouse said to his friend, "You live here the life
of the ants, while in my house is the horn of plenty. I am surrounded
by every luxury, and if you will come with me, as I wish you would,
you shall have an ample share of my dainties." The Country Mouse was
easily persuaded, and returned to town with his friend. On his
arrival, the Town Mouse placed before him bread, barley, beans, dried
figs, honey, raisins, and, last of all, brought a dainty piece of
cheese from a basket. The Country Mouse, being much delighted at the
sight of such good cheer, expressed his satisfaction in warm terms and
lamented his own hard fate. Just as they were beginning to eat,
someone opened the door, and they both ran off squeaking, as fast as
they could, to a hole so narrow that two could only find room in it by
squeezing. They had scarcely begun their repast again when someone
else entered to take something out of a cupboard, whereupon the two
Mice, more frightened than before, ran away and hid themselves. At
last the Country Mouse, almost famished, said to his friend:
"Although you have prepared for me so dainty a feast, I must leave you
to enjoy it by yourself. It is surrounded by too many dangers to
please me. I prefer my bare plowlands and roots from the hedgerow,
where I can live in safety, and without fear."
Although some may envy the life of the rich and the powerful,
Christians, however, must know that it comes at a great expense.
Indeed, sometimes it comes at the expense of the salvation of their
souls. Therefore, we should be content with what God gives us.
ubj:
The FAX of LIFE
Date:
7/6/98 12:46:24 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From:
GBCIII
To:
GBCIII
BCC:
RKChestnut
Subject: The Future of Money
Date: For the Week of July 6, 1998
Time magazine ran a cover story titled "The Future of Money." The article zeroed in on some recent bank mergers and how technology is moving us quickly toward a digital economy. A best guess is that we are not far from the time when handling cash, writing checks, and using credit cards will all give way to a single electronic card that will carry all your financial information in one place.
Maybe so. Maybe not. I'm neither an economist nor a futurist. But the article did nudge me to think about the spiritual implications of money for the future.
The first thing the Bible teaches about money is that it is a gift from God that we are to use as good stewards. We are only caretakers of his wealth, for the world and everything in it belongs to God. He created it. We are simply entrusted with it for a short time.
Contrary to the impression that has been left with some, Scripture nowhere says that money is evil or that wealth is unspiritual. It is the "love of money" in various forms -- selfishness, greed, dishonesty, stealing -- that the Bible rebukes. One who prospers has the right to enjoy the benefits of his or her wealth. That same person has the responsibility to share the things money provides with others. And that sharing is to be done with a generous, cheerful attitude.
Here is the counsel of Paul the Apostle about money: "Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage -- to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life" (1 Tim. 6:17-19, The Message).
So how does one keep a spiritual perspective about these things? Here are a few questions that might help . . .
* How much of your self-image is tied to career, income, and possessions?
* If you lost everything you have, would you still feel complete as a person?
* When you daydream, which comes to mind more often: How to honor God in your life or how to get more money for something you want
* How many hours a week does your work require? Do you spend a tithe (10%) of those hours in private communion with God in prayer?
As you plan for the future, remember that "financial security" is a misleading idea. Security comes from an authentic relationship with the God who loves you.
"He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner."
- Benjamin Franklin
- _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 136
Clovis Chappell, a minister from a century back, used to tell the story of two paddleboats. They left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail's pace of the other.
Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South.
One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but burned their cargo.
God has entrusted cargo to us, too: children, spouses, friends. Our job is to do our part in seeing that this cargo reaches its destination.
Yet when the program takes priority over people, people often suffer.
How much cargo do we sacrifice in order to achieve the number one slot? How many people never reach the destination because of the aggressiveness of a competitive captain?
__________
In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado, Word Publishing, 1991 Page 97-98
*
How rich is rich? According to a survey of people who ought to know, the answer is $1 million to $5 million in assets. Investment managers Neuberger & Bergman sponsored the survey of people who stand to give or receive inheritances (median household assets: $500,000). Paradoxically, 55% of those whose assets ranged from $1 million to $5 million don’t consider themselves wealthy.
________
USA Today, 11-11-91, D1
On his birthday, a very wealthy man in London called his servants
together to give them some presents. He had a Bible and some
twenty-dollar notes. The servants were to make a choice between the
Bible and the notes.
First came the gardener, who said, "I would like to have the Bible,
but my wife is very sick and I need the money. I will take the note."
The cook said, "I can't read, so the Bible would not do me any
good. Give me the money."
The coachman said, "I would appreciate having the Bible, but I have
some pressing obligations. I believe the money will help me more."
Finally the errand boy came for his gift. The old gentleman asked,
"Son, which will you take?"
The boy replied, "I really need the money, but my mother, who has
gone to heaven, used to read to me from the Bible. I will take that"
The old gentleman was very much pleased with this choice. As he
handed the good Book to the boy, he said, "God bless you, my son, for
your wise choice. I present this Book to you with all it contains."
All the servants were still sitting in the presence of their
master. The boy slowly opened the pages of the Book. A shining twenty
dollar gold piece dropped out This the boy picked up and handed to the
donor of the Book.
"No," said the old man, "did I not give you the Book with all that
it contained?" The boy continued to turn the pages, and all along
through the Book he found large bank notes. When these were counted,
they proved to be quite a fortune. The other servants sat back, quite
abashed in the presence of the boy whose' choice had meant more than
he had known.
So it is when one chooses Christ. If we are true, it means
salvation, peace and happiness in this world and a mansion in the
better world through all eternity.
By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."
A railroad magnate was dying. Addressing his son who stood by his bedside, the dying man said, “Son, take hold of my hand,” which he did. Then the man said, “My son you are holding the hand of the man who has made the greatest failure of any man that ever lived.”
“But,” said the son, “Father, why do you speak thus? You are worth a million dollars. You are president of the railroad. You number your friends bythe thousands. Your word is as good as your bond. Why speak thus?”
The poor man looked up and said, “It is like this. I have lived for time and not for eternity. I have made no preparation for the next world. I must leave all here. It is all dark.”
Thus he passed to the unknown world. He was right “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
Some few years ago a merchant failed in business. He went home in
great agitation. "What is the matter?" asked his wife. "I am ruined; I
have lost my all!" he exclaimed, pressing his hand upon his forehead.
"All?" asked his wife. "No, I am left." "All, Papa?" asked his eldest
boy. "Here am I." "And I too," said his little girl, running up and
putting her arms around his neck. "I'm not lost, Papa," repeated
Eddie. "And you have your health left," said his wife. "And your hands
to work with," said his eldest, "and I can help you." "And your two
feet, Papa, to carry you about, and your two eyes to see with, Papa,"
said little Eddie. "And you have God's promises," said the
grandmother. "And a good God," said his wife. "And heaven to go to,"
said his little girl. "And Jesus who came to fetch us there," said his
eldest.
"God forgive me!" said the poor merchant, bursting into tears. "I
have not lost my all. What have I lost compared to what I have left?"
He took comfort, and began the world afresh.
It is related that a lady whose house was burning was frantic. She ran into the burning building and got her silverware and took it out to a safe place. Then she did likewise with her fine paintings and Oriental rugs. Finally she seemed to come to herself and cried, “Oh, where is my darling baby?” She frantically ran around to the room where the baby was and, looking through the window, she beheld the burning room and the bed where her baby was. She broke the window open and began to enter the room, but just then there was a mighty crash as the building caved in and buried her baby in the flames. She screamed and ran about, wailing most piteously, “Oh, I have saved my goods, but I have lost my baby!”
That is what multitudes are doing. They are neglecting the main thing. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
A good man was living at a university when a young man ran up to
him with a face of delight and told him that what he had long been
wishing for was at length fulfilled, his parents having just given him
leave to study law. He ran on a long time and, when at last he came to
a stop, the good man asked, "Well, when you get through your course of
study, what do you mean to do then?" "Then I shall take my doctor's
degree," answered the young man. "And what then?" asked he. "And
then," continued the youth, "I shall have a number of difficult,
knotty cases to manage; shall catch people's notice by my eloquence,
my zeal, my astuteness; and gain a great reputation." "And what then?"
repeated the holy man. "And then," pursued the young lawyer, "I shall
live comfortably and honorably in wealth and dignity, and shall be
able to look forward quietly to a happy old age." "And what then?"
"And then," said the youth, "I shall die." Here the holy man again
asked, "And what then?" Thereupon the young man made no answer, but
cast down his head and went away. The last "And what then?" had
pierced his soul, and he could not get clear of it.
Soon after, he forsook the study of law, gave himself up to the
ministry, and spent the remainder of his days in godly words and
works.
William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."
I heard of a man who was dying some time ago, a man of great
wealth. When the doctor told him he could not live, he sent for a
lawyer to come to make out his will. The dying man's little girl, only
about four years old, did not understand what death meant; and, when
the mother told her that her papa was going away, the little child
went to the bedside and looked into her father's eyes and asked,
"Papa, have you got a home in that land you are going to?"
The question sank deep into his soul. He had spent all his time and
all his energy in the accumulation of great wealth. He had a grand
home and had now to leave it; and how that question came home to him!
-- Selected.
William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."
John Wesley says, "Get all you can, save all you can, give all you
can. Permit me to speak of myself as freely as I would of any other
man. I gain all I can without hurting my body or soul. I save all I
can; not wasting anything, not a sheet of paper, nor a cup of water. I
do not lay out anything, not a shilling, unless a sacrifice for God;
yet by giving all I can, I am effectually secured from laying up
treasures upon earth. Yea, and that I do this, I call upon both
friends and foes to testify."
William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."
A very brilliant young man who specialized in mathematics had just
finished his university and graduate work. He was very proud of his
attainments. He insisted that he could solve any problem given him. An
old gentleman, hearing his remarks, said "I have a problem I wish you
to solve for me. It is this, 'What shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?'"
It struck conviction to his heart, and as a result he found the
Lord. No, this is one question that man, devil, angel, or God himself
cannot answer. It is unanswerable. There is no answer.
William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."
Just glance at the end of worldly ambition. Look at four of earth's
greatest rulers. First, Alexander, who, when he had so completely
conquered the nations of earth, wept because there were no more to
conquer, at last set fire to a city and died in a drunken debauch.
Second, take Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general who ravaged
Italy, who filled three bushel baskets with gold rings taken from the
hands of slaughtered knights, who finally committed suicide by
poisoning himself. Third, take Caesar, who conquered 800 cities and
dyed his garments with the blood of a million of his foes, but was
finally stabbed by his best friend, in the court where had been his
greatest triumph. Fourth, take Napoleon, who was the scourge of
Europe, but was finally defeated and banished and died a captive in a
strange land. God says, "The memory of the just is blessed; but the
name of the wicked shall rot" (\reference{Proverbs 10:7}{Proverbs
10:7}).
William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."
A COTTAGER and his wife had a Hen that laid a golden egg every day.
They supposed that the Hen must contain a great lump of gold in its
inside, and in order to get the gold they killed it. Having done so,
they found to their surprise that the Hen differed in no respect from
their other hens. The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at
once, deprived themselves of the gain of which they were assured day
by day.
"The love of money is the root of all evil." I Tim. 6:10;
\reference{Heb. 13:5}{Hebrews 13:5}.
A WOMAN possessed a Hen that gave her an egg every day. She often
pondered how she might obtain two eggs daily instead of one, and at
last, to gain her purpose, determined to give the Hen a double
allowance of barley. From that day the Hen became fat and sleek, and
never once laid another egg.
"The love of money is the root of all evil." I Tim. 6:10;
\reference{Heb. 13:5}{Hebrews 13:5}.
TWO MULES well-laden with packs were trudging along. One carried
panniers filled with money, the other sacks weighted with grain. The
Mule carrying the treasure walked with head erect, as if conscious of
the value of his burden, and tossed up and down the clear-toned bells
fastened to his neck. His companion followed with quiet and easy
step. All of a sudden Robbers rushed upon them from their
hiding-places, and in the scuffle with their owners, wounded with a
sword the Mule carrying the treasure, which they greedily seized while
taking no notice of the grain. The Mule which had been robbed and
wounded bewailed his misfortunes. The other replied, "I am indeed
glad that I was thought so little of, for I have lost nothing, nor am
I hurt with any wound."
Those who are rich tend to have more problems than those who live
humbly. Thus, money is the not source of our happiness.
\reference{Genesis 3}{Genesis 3}.
Pierre Hurlat, one of the keenest eyed gunners in the French army,
gathered together by his thriftiness to buy a little cottage at Sevres
Bridge. Beautiful to look at was the cottage, the honeysuckle climbing
up the wall; and Pierre was proud of his home in which he and his wife
looked forward to spending their old age. But 1870 came, and the
Franco-Prussian war broke out and old Pierre, the most expert gunner
in the French army, was conscripted for the war. The Germans are in
possession of Sevres; and Pierre is at the back of the gun on the
heights of Valena that overlook the town. General Neil rides up to the
famous gunner and says, "Pierre." He salutes the general. "Do you see
that little house?" The cold sweat came over the poor, old gunner. "Do
you see that little house at the end of the bridge? Well, that is a
nest of Germans. I just want you to point your gun on that house, and
let us see what you can do." Pierre aimed his gun, and the old skill
was in his nerve, and muscle, and eye; and through the yawning
embrasure the gun is pointed at the cottage. Smoke! A roar! "Well
done, Pierre! Well done! It is demolished." The tears were stealing
down Pierre's cheeks. General Neil turned to him and said, "Pierre,
what is wrong?" Ah!" he replied, "it was my own house." Ah! point your
gun at your own house; your heart is a nest of devils. If you learn
that lesson, that alone is worth your gathering together this Lord's
day afternoon. Point your gun to your own soul, for the devil is
there; he has got entry to your heart, and there men feel him to be
most successful. -- Christian Scotsman.
[Transcriber Note: The advice of this illustration overlooks that
"aiming at one's own house" that makes possible the destruction of
carnal self, "the old man." but could be thus applied.]
By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."
In one of the celebrated insane asylums of an eastern city, there
is today an inmate whose mania is that he cannot get ready to do
anything, and his whole life is spent in fruitless efforts to promote
himself for something which he imagines may give him satisfaction. As
a boy in one of the best families of the city, he was absolutely
without restraint. He could rise in the morning as he chose, could
breakfast with the family or eat alone. From morning to night there
was no word of command spoken to him, and under the influence of such
a life he became careless and indifferent, acquired the habit of
listlessness, which after awhile developed into the mania of which I
have spoken. His keeper told me he would plan early in the morning to
visit his old home, but when the day was done he would still be in the
act of preparation, and the visit could never be made. It is a sad
warning, given to every one who has allowed himself to become
controlled by the least habit. There is really no proper control of
any life save the control of Jesus Christ. -- J. W. C.
By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."
The moon is never eclipsed but when it is at the full. Certainly
God's people are then in most danger. -- (Manton.) When all goes well
with them in house and field, in basket and in store, then should they
look, lest they be full and forget the Lord, and so become eclipsed.
For the world to come between us and our Lord is very easy, but very
terrible. When all is apparently prosperous as to soul matters, and
neither doubt nor fear nor temptation comes in, then also should the
heart look well to its bearings, lest at this very moment some evil
should interpose between God and the soul, and darkness should be the
fearful result. -- C. H. Spurgeon.
By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."
According to book reviewer Gloria Whelan, one of the most significant scenes in Michael Scammell’s biography of Alexander Solzhenitsyn is the portrayal of the exiled Russian author at his home in a small Vermont town. After years of KGB surveillance and imprisonment in Russia, Solzhenitsyn lives “barricaded” behind a chain link fence. According to Scammell, it was in a Soviet prison camp Solzhenitsyn discovered that “the meaning of earthly existence lies not, as we have grown used to thinking, in prospering, but ... in the development of the soul.”
Perhaps this is why he still spends much of his time writing in a small cabin furnished only with the barest necessities.
All that Glitters About a hundred years ago, "Gold Fever" hit North America. Thousands of men and several women followed their dream of striking it rich from a stake in the Klondike, only to face a harsh climate, expensive "required" items, treacherous mountain passes, amoral con artists, uncontrollable flooding created by the spring thaw, bacteria-laced drinking water in makeshift tent cities, and digging through granite-like permafrost at the rate of about a foot a day. Very few found even enough gold to pay for their trip home. About a year ago, the Bre-X company started a new sort of "Gold Fever" in North America. Samples from geologists revealed veins of the precious metal in superbly dense quantities in the hills of Indonesia. Money stampeded into the company as investors dreamed of multiplying their nest eggs. When the samples proved to be falsified, fortunes were lost in the devaluation of Bre-X stock. Almost two thousand years ago, Jesus warned his followers that the riches of this world would one day perish. He instructed that no one could effectively serve both God and money; we must choose to pursue either one or the other. If we choose money, any treasures we acquire, any temporary pleasure we may experience, will be lost to us when we die. But the treasures we amass in heaven while we pursue the way of God will never be exhausted. We may or may not experience material success in this life, but those who follow God live with the joy of knowing that we are the much-loved children of the King of all Kings and will be welcomed with celebration and a rewarding eternal life upon our return home. Such a life has meaning and purpose. Where is your treasure accumulating?
An unknown author wrote, "I asked a student what things he desired most. He said, 'Books.' I asked a miser; he cried 'Money.' I asked a beggar; he faintly said, 'Bread.' I asked a drunkard; and he called only for alcohol. I asked the multitude around me; they lifted up a confused cry in which I heard the words, 'Wealth, fame, and pleasure!'" "Finally, I asked a committed Christian what he de sired most. He replied, 'I greatly desire three things: first, that I be found in Christ; second, that I may be like Christ; third, that I may be with Christ.'" His deepest aspirations centered on Christ alone.
Once there was a young Chippewa woman who was tired of the big city. She decided to return to the Indian Reservation in Northern Canada. Life was simpler there.
But before she left, she gave three weeks notice to the boss, collected her last paycheck, and began to pack her belongings. What a job that turned out to be!
Pictures, bedding, rugs, clothes, china, books, pots and pans -- box after box until they almost reached the ceiling of her living room. She could almost see the envious looks of her friends on the reservation!
Packing made her so tired she fell asleep. She dreamed she had arrived on the banks of the Red River with her big pile of boxes spread around her. There she waited for her brother, who would bring a canoe for her journey home.
Finally her brother arrived. At first he seemed a little surprised at her pile of belongings, but he said nothing. He just went to work, carefully loading box after box into the canoe until it was nearly full. But the stack of boxes on the shore seemed no smaller.
“Why didn’t you bring a bigger canoe?” she cried.
Her brother answered quietly, “It’s the biggest canoe on the reservation. Besides, Grandmother said she was sure it would do.”
At the mention of her grandmother, the young Indian woman became very quiet. She had just remembered what her grandmother had said to her: “Remember, my dear one, if you have more things to move than can fill one canoe when you come back home, then you will know that you have become greedy. You will have taken more than your share, and others will not have enough. Don’t let that happen to you, my granddaughter.”
When the young woman woke up she found herself crying tears of shame. She had become greedy. She had taken more than her fair share. She knew she had to give away all her extra belongings and return to the reservation with only what she could carry in one canoe.
Aunt "Emma" was married to a tightwad who was also a little
strange. He made a good salary, but they lived frugally because he
insisted on putting 20 percent of his paycheck under the mattress.
(The man didn't trust banks.) The money, he said, was going to come
in handy in their old age.
When "Uncle Ollie" was 60, he was stricken with cancer. Toward the
end, he made Aunt Em promise, in the presence of his brothers, that
she would put the money he had stashed away in his coffin so he could
buy his way into heaven if he had to.
They all knew he was a little odd, but this was clearly a crazy
request. Aunt Em did promise, however, and assured Uncle Ollie's
brothers that she was a woman of her word and would do as he asked.
The following morning she took the money (about $26,000) to the
bank and deposited it. She then wrote a check and put it in the
casket four days later.
This is a true story and our family has laughed about it ever
since.
“Millionaires who laugh,” said Andrew Carnegie, “are rare.” Sir Ernest Cassel, who spent vast fortunes for the benefit of mankind, a multi-millionaire, the friend of kings and emperors, said to one of his visitors: “You may have all the money in the world, and yet be a lonely, sorrowing man. The light has gone out of my life. I live in this beautiful house, which I have furnished with all the luxury and wonder of art; but, believe me, I no longer value my millions. I sit here for hours every night longing for my beloved daughter.”
For the Christian, the source of goals and objectives in financial
planning is the Bible. In his tape series "Mastery of Materialism,"
John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Panorama City,
California, said that "sixteen out of thirty-eight of Christ's
parables deal with money; more is said in the New Testament about
money than Heaven and hell combined; five times more is said about
money than prayer; and where there are five hundred-plus verses on
both prayer and faith, there are over two thousand verses dealing with
money and possessions." Obviously, the Bible has much to say about
money management.
Though the precise weight (and therefore value) of Old Testament
monetary measure is unknown, the talent was approximately 100 lbs.,
the shekel was about .533 oz., and the pound about 1.6 lbs. Using
these numbers and a gold price of $600/oz., the total value of the
gold mentioned in \reference{1 Kings 10:14}{1 Kings 10:14},
\reference{16}{1 Kings 10:16}, \reference{17}{1 Kings 10:17} in the
temple was $681 million.
A husband and wife were attending a county fair where, for five
dollars per person, a man was giving rides on an old biplane. The
couple wanted to go up but they thought the price was too steep.
Consequently, they tried to negotiate a lower price. "We'll pay you
five dollars for both of us," they said to the pilot. "After all,
we'll both have to squeeze into that tiny cockpit that was built for
only one person." The pilot refused to lower his price, but he made a
counter-offer. He said to the couple, "Pay me the full price of ten
dollars and I'll take you up. And if you don't say one word during
the flight, I'll give you all your money back." The couple agreed and
got into the plane. Up they went and the pilot proceeded to perform
every trick he knew, looping and whirling and flying upside down and
lots more. Finally, when the plane had landed, the pilot said to the
husband, "Congratulations! Here's your ten dollars; you didn't say a
single word." To which the man replied, "Nope, but I almost did when
my wife fell out."
The Apostle Paul has written that the desire for money can plunge
us "into ruin and destruction" (\reference{1 Tim. 6:9}{1 Timothy
6:9}). He might have said also that the thought of parting with some
of our money can plunge us into absolute silence.
Money can buy a bed but not sleep, a hammer but not a carpenter,
"things" but not friends, a toy but not a child's happiness, a pen and
paper but not an author, a pencil but not an idea, a house but not a
home, an agreement but not peace, paints but not an artist, eyeglasses
but not eyesight, a chair but not rest, a computer but not wisdom, a
school but not students, death but not life, a flag but not
patriotism, a gun but not a soldier, a book but not knowledge, a
machine but not a skill, a desk but not a teacher, a name but not a
man, a church but not a religion,, an altar but not salvation, and a
cross but not a savior. --Ellen Meisberger
No matter how long a person may live or how rich he may be, money
cannot bring him happiness. In his book "For Better or For Worse,"
Walter Maier included this story: "A rich man had committed suicide.
In his pockets were found two items: $30,000 in cash and a letter. The
letter read in part: 'I have discovered during my life that piles of
money do not bring happiness. I am taking my life because I can no
longer stand the solitude and boredom. When I was an ordinary workman
in New York, I was happy. Now that I possess millions, I am
infinitely sad and prefer death.'"
Dennis Barnhart was president of an aggressive, rapidly growing
company, Eagle Computer Incorporated. His life is a study in tragedy.
From a small beginning, his firm grew incredibly fast. He finally
decided they should go public. The forty-four-year-old man, as a
result of this first public stock offering, became a multimillionaire
virtually overnight. Then, for some strange reason, while he was in
his red Ferrari only blocks from the company headquarters, he drove
his car through twenty feet of guard rail into a ravine and died.
A Los Angeles Times account read:
Until the accident at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon, it had been the
best days for Barnhart and the thriving young company, which makes
small business and personal computers. Eagle netted $37 million from
the initial offering of 2.75 million shares. The stock which hit the
market at $13 a share quickly rose as high as $27 before closing at a
bid price of $15.50.
After describing the stock, the article added: "That made Barnharts
ownership of 592,000 shares worth more than $9 million." And that
same afternoon he died in an auto accident.
[This popular illustration contains many errors and is probably based on a fictional event. See Barbara Mikkelson's article at )
In 1923, nine of the world's most successful financiers met at Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel. Financially, they literally "held the world by the tail" -- anything that money could buy was within their grasp -- they were rich--rich--rich! Read their names and the high position each held:
1. Charles Schwab, the president of the largest steel company.
2. Samuel Insull, the president of the largest electric utility company.
3. Howard Hopson, the president of the largest gas company.
4. Arthur Cutten, the great wheat speculator.
5. Richard Whitney, the president of the New York Stock Exchange.
6. Albert Fall, the Secretary of Interior in President Harding's Cabinet.
7. Jesse Livermore, the greatest "bear" on Wall Street.
8. Ivar Kreuger, head of the world's greatest monopoly.
9. Leon Fraser, president of the Bank of International Settlements.
A tremendously impressive group -- right? Would you like to change positions with one of them? Before you decide, let's look at the picture 25 years later -- in 1948:
1. Charles Schwab was forced into bankruptcy and lived the last five years before his death on borrowed money.
2. Samuel Insull not only died in a foreign land, a fugitive from justice, but was penniless.
3. Howard Hopson was insane.
4. Arthur Cutten became insolvent and had died abroad.
5. Richard Whitney had just been released from Sing Sing prison.
6. Albert Fall had been pardoned from prison so he could die at home -- broke.
7. Jesse Livermore had died a suicide.
8. Ivar Kreuger took his own life.
9. Leon Fraser also committed suicide.
Now, are you still impressed with this group? A vast amount of talent and potential went down the drain with these men. What happened? Their lives were out of balance!
=====================
Another version from Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator Supplements:
A few years ago, a friend of ours visited with hotel entrepreneur Conrad Hilton. As they separated, an exchange of calling cards took place. Our friend shares Mr. Hilton’s quote, “Food for Thought,” which appears on the card:
“In 1923, a very important meeting was held at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Attending this meeting were nine of the world’s most successful financiers. Those present were: The president of the largest independent steel company; the president of the largest utility company; the president of the largest gas company; the greatest wheat speculator; the president of the New York Stock Exchange; a member of the president’s cabinet; the greatest “bear” in Wall Street; head of the world’s greatest monopoly; president of the Bank of International Settlements.
Certainly we must admit that here were gathered a group of the world’s most successful men. At least, men who had found the secret of “making money.”
Twenty-five years later let’s see where these men are: The president of the largest independent steel company -- Charles Schwab -- died bankrupt and lived on borrowed money for five years before his death; the president of the largest utility company -- Samuel Insull -- died a fugitive from justice and penniless in a foreign land; the president of the largest gas company -- Howard Hospson -- is now insane; the greatest wheat speculator -- Arthur Cutten -- died abroad -insolvent; the president of the New York Stock Exchange -Richard Whitney -- was recently released from Sing Sing Penitentiary; the member of the president’s cabinet -- Albert Fall -- suicide; the president of the Bank of International Settlements -- Leon Fraser -- died a suicide.”
“All of these men learned well the art of making money but not one of them learned how to live.”
________
S. K. Evans
===============
In "Success, Motivation, and the Scriptures," William H. Cook describes a meeting in 1923 of a group of business tycoons. Together these men controlled unthinkable sums of wealth, and for years the media had trumpeted their success stories. On this day in Chicago they assembled to enjoy their mutual success. Dr. Cook relays what happened to these men in the years that followed:
Charles Schwab, the president of the largest independent steel company, lived on borrowed money the last five years of his life and died penniless.
Richard Whitney, the president of the New York Stock exchange, served time in Sing Sing Prison.
Albert Fall, a former member of the President's Cabinet, was pardoned from prison so he could die at home.
Jesse Livermore, the greatest bear on Wall Street, committed suicide.
Leon Fraser, the president of the Bank of International Settlement, committed suicide.
Ivar Krueger, head of the world's greatest monopoly, committed suicide.
The success they celebrated proved illusory.
========================================
Another take on the lesson to be learned from these rich men:
Now more than 55 years later, do you know what has become of these men?
The President of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died a pauper.
The President of the largest gas company, Edward Hopson, went insane.
The President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was released from prison to die at home.
The greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cooger, died abroad penniless.
The President of the Bank of International Settlement shot himself.
The Great Bear of Wall Street, Cosabee Rivermore, died of suicide.
The same year, 1923, the winner of the most important golf championship, Gene Sarazan, won the U.S. Open and PGA Tournaments. Today he is still playing golf and is solvent.
Conclusion: Stop Worrying About Business And Start Playing Golf!
========================
Barbara Mikkelson's research, found at , turned up these facts:
• Charles M. Schwab (not to be confused with the similarly-named Charles R. Schwab, who founded the Charles Schwab & Co. discount brokerage in 1963) was the Steel Titan: a young man who worked his way up from an entry-level job in an Andrew Carnegie steel mill at age 17 to become president of Carnegie Steel at 35. Schwab also served as president of United States Steel before taking over Bethlehem Steel in 1904, where his business acumen and perceptive risk-taking made him a millionaire many times over by 1923.
Although a combination of bad investments, the 1929 stock market crash, and the prolonged economic depression of the 1930s greatly diminished Schwab’s wealth, he didn’t exactly live the life of a “pauper” — he continued to spend lavishly and maintained a 900-acre estate in Loretto, Pennsylvania, and a $3 million Renaissance palace on Riverside Drive until his death in 1939. He lived his last years on borrowed money, however, and left behind an insolvent estate with debts and obligations totaling over $1.7 million. Ironically, had his executors waited a little longer to liquidate his investments, the rising pre-war market would have increased their value sufficiently to cover all his debts.
• Howard Hopson was a former New York utility regulator who, along with John Mange, bought up Associated Gas and Electric Company (AGECO), a conglomeration of electric and gas companies in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in the early 1920s. By 1929 Hopson had turned AGECO into one of the country’s largest utility holding companies; unfortunately he did so largely through fraud, as AGECO essentially became a huge pyramid scheme which always managed to stay one step ahead of its lenders and stockholders. Hopson’s financial shenanigans were one of the driving forces behind the passage of the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) in 1935 and the establishment of regional, regulated utilities.
AGECO declared bankruptcy in 1940 and was reorganized after World War II as General Public Utilities (GPU).
In 1941 Hopson was sentenced to five years in prison on seventeen counts of mail fraud for bilking AGECO investors out of $20 million, and later that year he was sentenced to another two years (to be served concurrently) for income tax evasion. He lost most of his estimated personal fortune of $74 million and lived out the rest of his life in “obscurity and ill health,” dying in Brooklea Sanitarium at age 67 in in 1949. (Whether Hopson could be accurately characterized as having “died insane” is difficult to determine. His 1940 trial was delayed several times by claims of poor physical and psychological health, and he was twice sent to Bellevue hospital for psychiatric evaluations to determine whether he was mentally fit to stand trial. Although Hopson died in a sanitarium, any inference drawn from that fact would not be conclusive because such facilities treated patients for both physical and psychological illnesses.)
• Richard Whitney was the Harvard-educated son a Boston bank president who went to work in a banking house, bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at age 23, became principal broker for J.P. Morgan & Co., was elected to the governing board of the NYSE, and on 24 October 1929 (also known as “Black Thursday,” the day the stock market crashed) performed one of the most famous feats in the history of Wall Street: strolling across the floor of the exchange and placing generous orders for a variety of blue chip stocks in order to halt the panic by convincing frightened brokers and investors that bankers still had confidence in the market. He was proclaimed a hero in the next day’s headlines after the market rallied, and for his efforts he was rewarded with four terms as the president of the NYSE. (This item introduces an anachronism into the list, because Whitney did not become president of the NYSE until six years after the purported 1923 meeting at the Edgewater Hotel described in the examples above.)
Unfortunately, Richard Whitney proved to be a very poor manager of his own financial affairs, living it up to the tune of $5,000 per month even at the height of the Depression. As he fell deeper and deeper into debt he turned to embezzlement to keep himself afloat; because he cooperated with authorities when he was eventually caught in 1938, he was tried only on a single count of grand larceny (for misappropriating funds from his father-in-law’s estate) and given a sentence of five to ten years in Sing Sing prison. The statement that Whitney “spent the rest of his life serving a sentence in Sing Sing Prison” is way off the mark, and the claim that he was “released from prison to die at home” is grossly misleading. Whitney was paroled after serving less than three and a half years of his sentence, and he lived on for another three decades before passing away at the ripe old age of 86 in 1974.
• Arthur William Cutten, of Guelph, Ontario, left home at the tender age of 18, hopped a train to Chicago, and found work as a bookkeeper with A.S. White and Company, a brokerage firm where he learned the rudiments of grain trading. Cutten managed to save up enough money to buy a seat on the Chicago Board of Trade, and within ten years his prowess in the grain trading market had made him of one America’s most successful speculators and a millionaire to boot. By the 1920s he was one of America’s richest citizens: in 1924 he earned a profit of $2 million, and in 1925 he reportedly paid a whopping $540,000 in income tax.
Cutten was suspected of being the ringleader of one or more insider consortiums which artificially boosted the stock market to an all-time high in the spring of 1929, leading to the Great Crash in October of that year. (His syndicate, working with another, was reported to have turned over half the stocks bought and sold on the New York Stock Exchange on some of its heaviest trading days.) He was called to appear before the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency which investigated the stock market collapse, but he professed to having a poor memory for details and was not charged with any market-related crimes. Cutten did lose a great deal of money in the stock market crash (reportedly up to $50 million), but he remained far from a pauper, later mentioning that he was down to his last $17 million. In 1936 Cutten was indicted on a charge of evading over $400,000 in income taxes (and two more indictments on similar charges were pending), but he passed away a few months later before being brought to trial. Cutten died of a heart attack at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago (not “abroad” as claimed) at age 66 in 1936.
• Leon Fraser was a Ph.D. graduate of Columbia University (he later added a law degree to his résumé) who worked as a reporter for the New York World, was admitted to the New York bar (even though he did not yet hold a law degree), and returned to Columbia to teach public law at his alma mater. Fraser’s support of pacifist causes in the years before America’s entry into World War I caused Columbia to drop him as an instructor, but when America declared war on Germany, Fraser enlisted in the Army as a private. He rose to the rank of major by the end of the war and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his efforts; after the war he held a variety of administrative positions in both government and private industry, and he served as a director, trustee, chairman, and treasurer for a number of businesses and charitable organizations.
Fraser and another American, Gates McGarrah, served as the first two presidents of BIS, the Bank for International Settlements. (Fraser is another anachronism in this piece: the BIS was not founded until 1930 and Fraser did not become its president until 1935, so he could not accurately have been described as “president of the Bank for International Settlements” in 1923.)
In 1945, while the 55-year-old Fraser was president of First National Bank of New York, he shot himself in the head at his summer home in North Granville, NY. He left behind a suicide note stating that he had been “depressed mentally and [had] suffered from melancholia that gets steadily worse.” Obituaries noted that he had been in “low spirits” since the death of his wife two years earlier.
• Jesse Livermore, also known as the “Boy Plunger,” the “Great Bear,” the “Wall Street Wonder,” and the “Cotton King,” was one of the most flamboyant and successful market speculators in the history of Wall Street. During his three-decade career as the King of the Speculators he reportedly made (and lost) four separate multi-million-dollar fortunes, was the subject of a best-selling biography (Reminiscences of a Stock Operator) and authored the classic 1940 work How to Trade Stocks. He was also one of the prominent speculators later blamed for having precipitated the Great Crash of 1929, during which he claimed to have made over $100 million.
Livermore committed suicide at New York’s Sherry-Netherland Hotel a week after Thanksgiving in 1940.
• Albert Fall was a New Mexico rancher, lawyer, prospector, miner, legislator, and (after the New Mexico territory was admitted to the Union as the 47th state in 1912) a U.S. Senator. He was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Warren G. Harding in 1921, but his tenure in that cabinet office was short-lived, as he resigned in 1923 after being implicated in the Teapot Dome oil fields scandal. (Fall leased two government oil reserves, Teapot Dome and Elk Hills, to private oil companies.)
A 1926 trial on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government acquitted Fall, a 1927 prosecution on related charges was declared a mistrial amidst charges of jury tampering, and a 1929 trial convicted Fall of accepting a $100,000 bribe from oilman Edward L. Doheny. Fall was fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in prison. (He was released without ever having paid his fine, presumably because he could not afford to pay it.) Although Fall was paroled (largely for reasons of ill health) after serving ten months of his one year sentence, he was not “pardoned from prison so that he could die at home” — he lived on for another twelve years before passing away at age 83 in 1941.
• Ivar Kreuger was the “Match King,” a Swedish businessman who founded and ran Kreuger & Toll, a multi-billion-dollar match conglomerate. Kreuger, like other financial crooks of his era, was essentially running a huge pyramid scheme through a complex structure of hundreds of subsidiary shell companies, hiding his manipulation by cooking the company books and insisting that financial statements not be audited.
Kreuger & Toll securities were among the most widely held in the United States, and when the company went under in 1932 (nearly $250 million worth of claimed assets were found to have never existed) investors lost millions in the largest bankruptcy of its time. The scandal led to the passage of laws requiring mandatory audits of all companies with listed securities.
Kreuger shot himself on 12 March 1932, although rumors have persisted that his death was a case of murder and not suicide.
• Samuel Insull was another utilities giant, an English immigrant who served as private secretary to inventor Thomas Edison and managed the company that would become General Electric. After moving to Chicago in 1892, Insull assembled an empire of utility and transportation companies including Commonwealth Edison, People’s Gas, and the Northern Indiana Public Service Company, and he acquired several electric railways in Indiana and Illinois.
The Great Depression brought Insull’s empire crashing down in 1932 due to an overly leveraged financial position of his main holding company, and Insull lost his utilities holdings (once rated at $3 billion) and his personal fortune (estimated at somewhere between $75 million and $300 million). He fled to Greece to live on a meager income of $18,000 per year but was returned to the U.S. to stand trial on charges of mail fraud, embezzlement, and violation of the bankruptcy acts. He was acquitted in three separate trials, but his ordeal left him in poor health. Six years after his fall, at age 78, Insull died of a heart attack in a Paris subway station with twenty cents in his pocket.
• Gene Sarazen was the first golfer (and one of only five men) to win all four of golf’s Grand Slam titles: the U.S. Open, the British Open, the Masters, and the PGA championship. He won 38 PGA titles altogether (most of them in the 1930s) and invented the sand wedge, introducing it at the British Open in 1932. Although Sarazen did capture the PGA championship in 1923, he did not also win the U.S. Open that year as claimed in the first example above. (An amateur, Robert T. Jones, Jr., took the title in 1923.) Sarazen did win both the U.S. Open and the PGA championship in 1922, however.
Gene Sarazen passed away in Naples, Florida, in 1999 at the advanced age of 97.
BURIED LIFE SAVINGS JUST A ROTTEN IDEA. That headline drew my
attention to an Associated Press article in our local newspaper. It
told about a man in Beijing, China, who, at 82 years of age, suffered
a devastating financial loss. Mistrustful of banks, he had dug a hole
in the ground five years earlier and deposited his life savings in it.
When the man needed some cash, he dug up the money. To his dismay, he
discovered that it was moldy almost beyond recognition. He was able
to salvage only about one-third of his savings.
Our Lord 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" (\reference{Matt.
6:19}{Matthew 6:19}, \reference{20}{Matthew 6:20}). Investing in the
lives of others and growing in our relationship with God are spiritual
treasures. They are not subject to destruction or thievery. They are
fully protected. Their value never diminishes.
Do money and social position really satisfy? Just read the tragic
account of Christina Onassis who died last November at age 37.
Commenting on her life, her stepsister Henrietta Gelber said, "She was
one of those people who would never be happy." "She would become
impatient. It had all come too easily -- all the money, houses all
over the world, few real responsibilities." "She lacked a sense of
achievement," says Gelber. "What she was striving for was virtually
impossible in her situation. She had houses all over the world, but
she never really had a home." --People Magazine
Ecclesiastes 6:2 - "A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth not for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease."
In his book, "The Rockefeller Billions," Jules Abels says that John D. Rockefeller had an income of approximately a million dollars a week toward the end of his life. Yet his doctors allowed him to eat only a bare minimum. One of his biographers said he lived on a diet a pauper would have hated. "Now, less than 100 pounds in weight, he sampled everything (at breakfast): a drop of coffee, a spoonful of cereal, a fork full of egg, and a bit of chop the size of a pea." Rockefeller was the richest man in the world, but he didn't have the ability to enjoy even his food.
Columnist L. M. Boyd recently described the amazing good fortune of a man named Jack Wurm. In 1949, Mr. Wurm was broke and out of a job. One day he was walking along a San Francisco beach when he came across a bottle with a piece of paper in it. As he read the note, he discovered that it was the last will and testament of Daisy Singer Alexander, heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune. The note read, "To avoid confusion, I leave my entire estate to the lucky person who finds this bottle and to my attorney, Barry Cohen, share and share alike." According to Boyd, the courts accepted the theory that the heiress had written the note 12 years earlier, and had thrown the bottle into the Thames River in London, from where it had drifted across the oceans to the feet of a penniless and jobless Jack Wurm. His chance discovery netted him over 6 million dollars in cash and Singer stock. How would you like to have been making Mr. Wurm's footprints on that San Francisco beach? What a find! And yet 6 million dollars doesn't even begin to compare with our spiritual inheritance!
(Christ does not will His eternal riches through such whims and chance! They only inherit His wealth who meet His conditions and who thereby become the sons and daughters of God. -- Duane V. Maxey)
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