Ananias and Sapphira lied to God about the price of the land they had sold. They died for their greed (Acts 5:1-11).
King Ahab pouted like a baby when Naboth refused to sell him his vineyard, so Jezebel killed Naboth and gave the land to her husband. But this evil pair paid for their covetousness when they later became dog food (1 Kings 21:1-23).
Judas Iscariot was a thief who stole from the money bag and betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver (John 12:6; Matt. 26:15). In the end he regretted what he had done and hanged himself (Matt. 27:3-10).
The rich man in Luke 16:19-31 lost his soul because he was too cheap to help a poor man near his property.
Few things are as deceptive as money. Jesus warned that the “deceitfulness of riches” would cause some Christians to fall (Matt. 13:22). He said, “If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness” (Matt. 6:23). In the context, He is discussing our attitude toward riches. If our “eye” (the way we look at money) is evil, then our “whole body” (our entire life) will be full of the darkness of sin. This is basically what Paul said in his well-known passage on the love of money:
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:9-10).
We live in a world infected with greed. Make money, spend money, and dream of having more—these ideas are drilled into our minds from youth. In this life money talks, and many listen. Solomon said that money is the answer to everything in worldly affairs (Ecc. 10:19). Money is power, and power is money. But Solomon, who was rich beyond our imagination, warned that wealth will only leave you feeling empty and depressed (Ecc. 2:1-21; 5:10-15).
If men had written the Bible, it would read like this section I call, “The Greedy Man’s Prayer:”
Our money which art in banks,
Hollow be thy fame.
Thy power corrupts.
Thy will be done in recession, as it is in prosperity.
Buy us this day more than we need.
And increase our debt, as we fail to pay our lenders.
And lead us not into charity, but deliver us from helping others.
For thine is the misery, and the vanity,
and the flames of hell forever.
Amen.
Kerry Duke
East End church of Christ
Livingston, TN