DIGGING DEEP 38 Topic: The Problem of wealth

INTRODUCTION: For those who think of this world, money is absolutely everything. They believe that all their problems will be solved once they have enough money. But for those of us who are heavenly minded. Wealth should not be a problem. To us, money is simply a tool for spreading the Gospel quickly thereby hastening the return of our King.

In this series on wealth and poverty we shall study in some details the problems of wealth as well as the problems of poverty.

1. One of the signs of a worldly minded person is that he wants as much money as possible. They are willing to go to any extent to get money, even if it involves cheating and trampling down the poor. Ps.43:4-12, Jere.5:26-31, Matt. 16:26, Luke 12:18,
Luke 21:24, I Peter 5:2.

2. If we want more money than we deserve or more than we need, then we are suffering from greed. What is Greed? It is an unsatiable longing for money. The Bible is full of examples of greedy men. Deut. 32:15-18, I Sam. 8:3, Eccl. 5:10, Ps. 52:7, I Tim. 6:9-10, James 5:16.

3. Greed is a sin and it creates problems for those who encourage it. Some of these problems are family problems, loss of good name, dissatisfaction, false hopes and security, divine punishment, backsliding, violence, serious temptations and misery, Proverbs 15:27, Proverbs 28:20, James 5:4-6, I Timothy 6:9, Eccl. 5:10, Jere 17:11, Dan. 4:28-30, Prov. 28:20, Mark 4:19, I Tim. 6:10, II Tim.4:10, II Pet. 2:15 Acts 16:19, I Tim. 6:9, 17, James 5:3.

From the above, it is clear that greed results in the most serious consequences. Surely, godliness and contentment is great gain. However, there are examples in the Scriptures of Famous people (like Job and Abraham who have been very rich and yet have been very faithful to the Lord. Obviously, it is possible to have money and not backslide. How can this be achieved? We shall discover this as we proceed in this series.