| “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13).
There have been many that have made it big with their money. They have worked hard and spoke loudly of the way they live by the money they make. Maybe the words aren’t loud, but the spending is. After a certain amount of time the money flows and the items are bought and the road continues…until. It looks as if all is going well. Then it happens. Darkness falls. The children grow up. The dad and mom have done so much together, but the grave calls. Now the children are seated in a funeral home, alongside their dad. The mom is gone. The aged father is not thinking of their gain. The hurt is very real. Time is gone and nothing seems the same. The things accrued, the times spent, are a distant memory. What are we to do to ensure we feel fulfilled and contented when the time comes and death beckons? Wealth is given by God so that we can give it to others. Children and others need to understand that dad and mom love God more than they love money. Who gives the money anyway? Who gives the ability to earn? Who owns it all? Is it not the God that gave His only Son? We need to own the needs around us and toward distant lands, and distribute that wealth to help others into the kingdom of God. There is “A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away” (Ecclesiastes 3:6). God in his sovereignty has allowed us the choice. Through our disobedience we bring forth sin into the world, and death by sin (Romans 5:12). There are way too many memorial services which are empty and void. Why? Because most lived for gain and not for giving. It is an emptiness that does betray the soul. Why? Because money and stuff can never fill the soul. But that which is given does. Whether rich or poor may we give away that which is not ours to keep. Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt. And he has his reward.
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