| “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). |
| Money does not motivate everyone in this world, but it certainly motivates many people. John D. Rockefeller, from the state of Ohio, U.S.A., started the Standard Oil Company. Rockefeller was at one point the world’s richest man and the first ever American billionaire. Considering he was a billionaire in the early 1900’s he is still considered as the richest person in modern history. A newspaper reporter once asked him, “How much money is enough?” He responded, “Just a little bit more.” |
| How much is enough money? If John Rockefeller always needed a little more, will you ever have enough? And how will you know when you have enough money to make you happy? The Word of God tells us that nothing in this world is enough to make us completely happy, for our hearts were made for eternity, not just for time. As we have already noticed several weeks ago, King Solomon, who lived about three thousand years ago, had everything he could possibly want. More than this, he was also a very wise man, for the Lord had given him a great deal of wisdom. People came from many different countries to hear his wisdom. Yet he had to admit that “all is vanity and vexation of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). (Vanity means emptiness, and vexation means troublesome or irritating.) Even his wisdom was not always a welcome thing, for he said, “In much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow” (Ecclesiastes1:18). The more we know, the more we realize how sinful this world is, and how much trouble and heartache there is around us. |
| Also, as our verse tells us, money often causes people to do wrong things. This verse does not mean that all the evil in this world is because of money. No, there can be evil in this world that has nothing to do with money. Rather, it means that every kind of evil can be the result of difficulties over money. Things like lying, cheating, computer fraud, gambling, and even murder can be caused by the love of money. Even Christians can get caught up in all this, and bitter feelings can result from disputes over money. The world has a saying that you never really know someone until you have to share an inheritance with them. I have known more than one Christian family that fought over an inheritance, and in some cases the angry feelings never went away. |
| The Bible is the only book in the world that tells us to look beyond this world, and to lay up our treasure in heaven. We can do this whether we have a lot of money, or perhaps only a little. We can use our money for ourselves, or we can use it for the Lord. It really all belongs to Him, and we are told to use it for Him. Then He will give us a reward in heaven. |
