Key Verse: Verse 11 – “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.”
The Word of God warns us about desires for wealth and riches. In Proverbs 11:4a we read, “Riches profit not in the day of wrath” and in verse 28a, “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall.”
The British ship Britannia was wrecked off the coast of Brazil. Stored in the hold were many kegs filled with Spanish gold coins. The crew, hoping to save them, started to carry the barrels on deck. But the vessel was breaking up so fast that they had to abandon their efforts and rush for the lifeboats. Just before the last one pushed off, a young midshipman was sent back to see if anyone had been left behind. To his surprise, a man sat on the deck with a hatchet by his side. He had broken open a few kegs and was heaping the gold up around him. “What are you doing?” shouted the sailor. “Don’t you know this ship is going to pieces?” “It may go down,” said the man, “but I’ve lived in poverty all my life, and I’m determined to die rich.”
This man, along with many others, needs to learn that “the measure of a man’s wealth is how much he’d be worth if he lost all his money” (John Henry Jowett).
What to do:
✞ Remember that wealth is a wonderful thing, but it’s possible to pay too high a price for it.
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