Week 10 Day 5 Devotions
The Deceitfulness of Wealth
“But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and
choke the word, making it unfruitful” Mark 4:19
Yesterday we said that work is good and is one of the things for which we were created. This is one of the reasons why it is so heartbreaking when people can't find work and when economic and other factors which are beyond the individual's control, mitigate against their finding the work that they long to do.
Jesus spoke a lot about work. He encouraged people to work hard, He taught that workers should be paid for the work they do, He encouraged good stewardship of what we are entrusted with and what we earn and in today's text He warns us about the deceitfulness of wealth. Scripture does not teach that money is evil but it does teach us to be wary of it. Wealth deceives in many ways, one of its more common deceptions being that we always need just a little more. When we walk with the Lord, in His way and in His will, one of His deepest desires is for us to be content in whatever situation we find ourselves. Many people let the pursuit of money and wealth deceitfully rob them of contentment. The following little story illustrates how this works:
"You are to be more envied than anyone I know," said a young man to a millionaire. "Why so?" responded the millionaire. "I am not aware of any cause for which I should be envied." "What, sir!" exclaimed the young man in surprise. "Why, you are a millionaire! Think of the thousands your income brings every month!" "Well, what of that?" replied the millionaire. "All I get out of it is my food and clothes, and I can't eat more than one man's allowance and wear more than one suit of clothes at a time. Even you can do as much as I can, can't you?" "Yes, but think of the hundreds of fine houses you own, and the rentals they bring you." "What good does that do me?" replied the rich man. "I can only live in one house at a time. As for the money I receive for rents, why, I can't eat or wear it; I can only use it to buy other houses for other people to live in; they are the beneficiaries, not I." Then, finally, after a little more discussion, the millionaire turned to the young man and said: "I can tell you that the less you desire in this life, the happier you will be. All my wealth can't buy a single day more of life, cannot buy back my youth, cannot procure power to keep off the hour of death. Then what will happen? In a few short years at most I must lie down in the grave and leave it all forever. Young man, you have no cause to envy me."
Lord, please open my eyes and help me to see whether I am being entrapped by the deceitfulness of wealth.
© 2006 JohnWesleyProject.com
