“Do not overwork to be rich; because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:4-5).
Wealth makes a great blessing from God, but a terrible purpose for your life. A vastly superior goal for you is the diligent pursuit of excellence (Prov. 22:29), especially moral and spiritual excellence, and the laying up of treasures in heaven (Prov. 23:4-5—see yesterday’s post).
Like fame, fortune is fleeting. Wealth’s uncertainty is its one certainty.
Treasures upon this earth can disappear quickly. Stocks can crash. A market bubble can burst. Rust can corrupt. Moths, termites, and other pests can destroy. Thieves and swindlers can steal. Properties age and can lose their assessed value quickly. Flocks and herds can be decimated by disease or predators.
Riches certainly can fly away—rocketing out of sight quickly, like an eagle. For this reason, Paul instructed Timothy to “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim. 6:17-19).
Wealth’s one certainty is its uncertainty. Steward it wisely.
