Job 31:24-25, 28 “If I have made gold my hope, or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’; if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much; . . . this also would be an iniquity worthy of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above.”

Dr. Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, shared how he and his wife, Jeanne, dined with a very rich man from a blue-blooded Boston family. During the course of the dinner, Dr. Hendricks asked him, “How in the world did you grow up in the midst of such wealth and not be consumed by materialism?” The man replied, “My parents taught us that everything in our home was either an idol or a tool.”

Before the Sabeans raided his oxen and donkeys, the Chaldeans stole his camels and fire from heaven burned up his sheep, Job had been a very wealthy man, but he was also wise enough to know that these were not the things in which he should place his trust.

In fact, had he done so, he would have been worthy of all the affliction he experienced. It would have made him guilty of denying God the most important place in his life.

Wealth is not wrong, but how we view our possessions can be very wrong. Christians must realize that everything we have is a gift from the Lord. When what we have received becomes more important than the One who gave it, we have fallen into the trap of idolatry. We are putting possessions ahead of the Lord. Our security then rests not in whom we belong to but in what belongs to us.

You may not consider yourself wealthy. Most people don’t. But whether you have a lot or a little, your attitude toward what you do possess may be causing you to stumble. Examine your heart. Are your possessions a tool to be used for God’s glory or an idol in which you trust?

HONOR THE GIVER MORE THAN THE GIFT.

WOODROW KROLL
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