"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are
coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your
gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and
will eat your flesh like fire."
James 5:1-3

Realizing the
limitations of money and material wealth will help us to maintain balance. Money
and material wealth FAILS when human needs are the greatest. When one loses a
loved one in death, can money ease the pain? When one loses one's youth and old
age sets in, or one's health fails, what happiness is gained by having a whole
bank full of money? If you have a child born blind, would all the money in the
world cause this child to see the love in your eyes that you have for him or the
young animals that are frolicking before him? If born deaf, could mountains of
gold substitute for hearing a beautiful symphony, the sound of the ocean, or
even your own voice? How limited are the powers of money and material treasures!

MONEY ITSELF IS NOT EVIL. The Apostle Paul warned us what the real
problem was when he said: "The LOVE of money is a root of all sorts of injurious
things, and by REACHING OUT FOR THIS LOVE some have been led astray from the
faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains." (1 Timothy 6:10)
Why is the LOVE OF MONEY so injurious? The difference between normal desire and
LOVE OF MONEY, or GREED, might be likened to the difference between the small
campfire that cooks food and the blazing inferno that consumes a forest. One is
a beneficial and constructive desire, which motivates us to work and to be
productive. But GREED is dangerous and destructive. It is desire out of control.
Control is a core issue. Will the money we accumulate or the material things we
want serve our needs, or will our needs serve money? That is why Paul says that
being a "greedy person...means being an idolater." (Ephesians 5:5) To be greedy
for something in reality means that we surrender our will to it --- in effect,
we make it our master, our god, the thing we serve. Jesus was very succinct when
he said: "NO ONE CAN SLAVE FOR TWO MASTERS; for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. YOU CANNOT
SLAVE FOR GOD AND FOR RICHES." (Matthew 6:24)

"Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves
break in and steal, but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven"

Matthew. 6:19

Economic instability, inflation, and stock-market
changes all bring to the fore that riches have a way of disappearing. Moreover,
God's Word says: "The valuable things of the rich are his strong town, and they
are like a protective wall IN HIS IMAGINATION." (Proverbs 18:11)

"No
one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and
mammon.(Mammon meaning wealth or riches)"
Matthew. 6:24

May we
always seek to serve Him first as we enjoy the wealth no man can see within the
blessings He bestows upon those who have seen Him, accepted Him, Repented to Him
and pledged their lives to Him, forever.

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