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." (1)

"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.' (2) 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.' (3) 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.' (4) 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.' (5)" (6)

1. Matthew 13:22.
2. Deuteronomy 8:17.
3. 1 John 2:15, 16.
4. Luke 21:34.
5. 1 Timothy 6:9, 10.
6. Christ's Object Lessons. pp., 52, 55, 56.