Wednesday, September 6, 2017

"Just a Little More"


"Just a Little More"     


     "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver" (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

     You may have heard about the extremely wealthy gentleman who was asked why he continued his attempt to amass more and more riches.  He answered, "I'm not quite satisfied yet."  His questioner followed with another inquiry.  "How much do you require then to be completely satisfied?"   The wealthy man instantly responded, "Just a little more."

    Money is a tool.  Tools do not satisfy.  They rather enable the possibility of satisfaction, if used to achieve a proper and noble purpose.  Thus, the currency and coin in our wallets, purses, strongboxes, bank accounts, and investments must never be viewed as an end in and of themselves.  We rather receive, give, spend, and invest money in order to accomplish things, again, as a tool toward desired purposes.  For the born again believer, this begins with seeking to glorify God, fulfill His will, and further His eternal purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 10:31; I Peter 4:1-2; Ephesians 3:11).  Whatever amount of money we possess, be it much or little, all belongs to our Heavenly Father because we ourselves belong to Him.  He possesses us in order that we might not be possessed by other masters who would bring us to harm, including the money that becomes a tyrant if we fail to acknowledge it as a tool.

   Find the most miserable human being on the planet in this moment, and it will not likely be a pauper.  Instead, we might find a prince who owns much, but has nothing.  As wealthy Solomon affirmed, silver does not satisfy.  Viewed wrongly, silver rather slithers as a serpent before coiling around the throat of the unsuspecting victim who needed "just a little more."  Solomon, given wisdom beyond all others, ventured deep into the land of silver in the search for satisfaction.  He returned to report, "There is nothing there!"  We do well to heed his counsel and warning by laying aside every false notion that views money as anything other a tool in the kit we possess to fulfill God's purposes.  Perceived wrongly, silver slithers, silver swindles, silver slays.  It most certainly does not satisfy its servants, who must always seek "just a little more."

"Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?  For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."
(Proverbs 23:5)

Weekly Memory Verse 
     He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
(I John 5:12)
 

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