What will one sacrifice when he is “in love”?
The price is very high when it comes to riches. What would
one give in exchange for his soul? Whatever
one gives himself to habitually and compulsively is the
object of his love. The deception of riches ensnares the
one who has a love for it. By what a man is ensnared,
by this is he overcome. What
has trapped him is his own internal decadence and fallen
sense of self-importance.
Most who attain to great wealth live in their own man-made
confines of loneliness and isolation. Private, gated entrances
to exclusive properties portray the deeper, underlying
reality of what possesses the souls of the rich. Like a
top-security prison, the guards of self-centeredness and
pride work together as a blockade to those outside its
walls. The rich alienate and are alienated by their own
insatiable lust for wealth. Their castles turn out to be
self-made prisons in which they are beset with many sicknesses
from constant financial troubles and anxiety.
Those who place their confidence in their riches end
up spending enormous amounts of time worrying about the
potential of losing what they have. They will seek greater
investments to secure their wealth. Oh, security! Riches!
It is like the wealthy farmer in Luke 12:16-21 who wanted
greater and greater wealth in order to guarantee his future
prosperity and comfort. In order to secure what he owned,
he tore down one barn to build two. “Well done,” the
man said to his soul, “Now I have much wealth stored
up for many years to come; I can take my ease and eat,
drink, and be merry.” What a fool! That night, his
soul was demanded of him, and who would enjoy all that
he had hoarded for himself?
Matthew
16:26-27
2
Peter 2:19-20
Ecclesiastes
5:12-17
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