October
9, 2003
THE
DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES
"Now
he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the
word, and the - - deceitfulness of riches choke the word,
and he becomes unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22, NKJV).
"The
love of riches has an infatuating, deceptive power. Too often
those who possess worldly treasure forget that it is God who
gives them power to get wealth. They say, 'My power and the
might of my hand have gained me this wealth' (Deuteronomy
8:17). Their riches, instead of awakening gratitude to God,
lead to the exaltation of self. They lose the sense of their
dependence on God and their obligation to their fellow men.
Instead of regarding wealth as a talent to be employed for
the glory of God and the uplifting of humanity, they look
on it as a means of serving themselves. Instead of developing
in man the attributes of God, riches thus used are developing
in him the attributes of Satan. The seed of the word is choked
with thorns...
"Cares,
riches, pleasures, all are used by Satan in playing the game
of life for the human soul. The warning is given, 'Do not
love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that
is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the
world' (1 John 2:15, 16). He who reads the hearts of men as
an open book says, 'Take heed to yourselves,
lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness,
and cares of this life' (Luke 21:34). And the apostle
Paul by the Holy Spirit writes, 'Those who desire to be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and
harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for
which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows' (1 Timothy
6:9, 10)."--Christ's Object Lessons. pp.,
52, 55, 56.
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