What will a man exchange for his Soul?

Proverbs 23:4-5

“Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.  When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.”

If one was to read Proverbs 10:4, “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”  One must wonder is King Solomon giving one message, the two verses seem counter to the other?  I do not believe, so they are both on wealth, but two different messages.  If we take the whole counsel of the Scriptures, we find many years later we have the apostle Paul penning a letter to a young pastor named Timothy about his conduct and some very wise counsel found in 1 Timothy 6:9-10.   “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

And we also find in the gospel of Luke 16:13, Jesus telling us the following; “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

When I was in Corpus Christi and was part of a ministry called Christian Business Men, I met a young Harvard graduate while doing a follow-up of a monthly lunch meeting that the young man had attended.  His apartment had little in the way of furnishings, and he was sharing how hard he was working and how little he was bringing home.  My friend Greg who lived by faith and the support of people who believe in his ministry, spoke up and said let’s call him Tony, (not his real name) my wife and I have $50.00 more than we need to pay our bills this month and I want you to have it to buy food or whatever you need.  I was humbled, I had not offered anything, and Greg was giving all he had that month.

But I was in for yet a bigger shock, and Tony ask us this question, can I be a Christian and be rich?  And before we could answer he said for my life goal is to be very rich.  Greg asked Tony, is that more important than having a relationship with Jesus Christ and the young man hung his head and said my goal is to be rich.

For years I kept up with Tony, and even after we moved to the Houston area, I would ask Greg if he knew how Tony was doing, it was always the same answer not well, but he is still in search of his goal to someday be rich.  To Greg’s knowledge, Tony never again had a desire to know Jesus Christ.

Shall we close with this question from Jesus found in Mark 8:36, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

“In a world of created changeable things, Christ and his Word alone remain unshaken.” (Page 30 “The Valley of Vision”)