Matthew records Jesus' words: "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be." (6:19 - 21)
We may not be busy building an empire of wealth on Donald Trump's scale, but we spend an awful lot of time worrying about what we will eat, what we will wear, what kind of car we will drive, and what kind of house we will live in. In the process, we lose sight of Jesus' message to think eternally.
Randy Alcorn, author of The Treasure Principle says "you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead." The ancient Egyptians didn't believe this. Their kings were buried with thousands of pounds of gold.
In 1922, anthropologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tut. What Carter found was quite impressive. King Tut was buried with solid gold chariots and thousands of golden artifacts. His gold coffin was found within gold tombs within gold tombs within more gold tombs. You see, the Egyptians believed you could take it with you.
Many of us behave more like those ancient Egyptians than we're comfortable admitting. We don't ask to be buried with masses of gold, but we cling to the things of this world as if we could take them with us.
We need to remind ourselves that materialism is a temptation as old as ancient Egypt yet the outcome is always the same: money does not bring happiness. Read what some of the wealthiest people in our country had to say about their money:
"The care of $200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it." W.H. Vanderbilt.
"I am the most miserable man on earth." John Jacob Astor.
"Millionaires seldom smile." Andrew Carnegie.
"I was happier when I was doing a mechanic's job." Henry Ford.
Their failure to reach earthly bliss shouldn't be surprising. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5:10-11: "Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what is the advantage of wealth - except perhaps to watch it run through your fingers!"
We yearn to be an apprentice to people like Donald Trump when we should in fact be pursuing an apprenticeship with Jesus. Who are you following?
Steve Scalici is the Vice President of Treasure Coast Financial, a financial planning firm in Stuart, FL. He is co-host of God's Money which can be heard weekdays at www.oneplace.com . He can also be reached at his website www.tcfin.com.
