The Corrosion of Riches
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 corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
James 5:1–6
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The Corrosion of Riches
The Bible is the number one best-selling book of all time. And the number one most misquoted verse would have to be 1 Timothy 6:10. You may have heard it said that money is the root of evil, but what is actually said is “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” We are too often quick to judge others by their blessings which we don’t have, money and possessions being at the top of the list. When we begin to despise others for having what we don’t have, sin corrodes us. Yet those who do have the blessings of material wealth are to use that blessing for the benefit of others. When their sole focus is on obtaining wealth for the sake of being rich, this wicked desire corrodes as quickly as envy. These verses call out and condemn the rich, not for being rich but for living as if this life is all there is to live for and for having no regard for God or their neighbor. But don’t fall for the devil’s trap of believing these words don’t apply to us because there is always someone wealthier, greedier, less giving and more selfish. Lest we are tempted to fall for this, let us remember what Paul writes to the church in Corinth, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). This world can only offer fleeting riches, here today and gone tomorrow. Still, in Christ, we have the riches that come from our heavenly Father alone; above all, He gives us the gift of faith. Faith to know His Son as our Savior is worth more than all the wealth this world has to offer.
James 5:1–6
+
The Corrosion of Riches
The Bible is the number one best-selling book of all time. And the number one most misquoted verse would have to be 1 Timothy 6:10. You may have heard it said that money is the root of evil, but what is actually said is “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” We are too often quick to judge others by their blessings which we don’t have, money and possessions being at the top of the list. When we begin to despise others for having what we don’t have, sin corrodes us. Yet those who do have the blessings of material wealth are to use that blessing for the benefit of others. When their sole focus is on obtaining wealth for the sake of being rich, this wicked desire corrodes as quickly as envy. These verses call out and condemn the rich, not for being rich but for living as if this life is all there is to live for and for having no regard for God or their neighbor. But don’t fall for the devil’s trap of believing these words don’t apply to us because there is always someone wealthier, greedier, less giving and more selfish. Lest we are tempted to fall for this, let us remember what Paul writes to the church in Corinth, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). This world can only offer fleeting riches, here today and gone tomorrow. Still, in Christ, we have the riches that come from our heavenly Father alone; above all, He gives us the gift of faith. Faith to know His Son as our Savior is worth more than all the wealth this world has to offer.
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