“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 89
“The crown of the wise is their riches: but the foolishness of fools is folly.” (Prov. 14:24).
One lesson that the Bible teaches, and that conservative believers have generally learned, is that wealth presents many spiritual dangers. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. It is a lesson we ought to grab hold of, and never let go. But learning this lesson partially has caused many Christians to dismiss instruction from the Old Testament (such as Prov. 14:24) as some kind of an “Old Testament thing,” and somehow not relevant for us. But this, as a false assumption, does not guard us against the temptations of wealth.
Notice that the riches are not a crown for fools, or for those who think they are wise. The crown of wise men is wealth, because wise men know how to acquire it without losing their souls, what to do with it when they get it, and how to respond to temptations associated with it. This does not contradict the Lord’s warnings, but rather places them in context. When it comes to our finances, we should not want to be clever, but rather wise.