Why do you suppose we long for things? The magazine with the prefect garden creates a desire to live in such a place. The photo of the elegant furniture around a cozy fireplace draws our imaginations toward what we could do with a couple million dollars.
Wouldn’t it be fun to travel anywhere we wanted, whenever we wanted? Wouldn’t it be great to buy matching furniture for every room? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to always dress nice, shop whenever the fancy took hold of us or dine out at our leisure?
I often think it would be fun to be rich. I imagine the money I could donate to missions, the projects I could help finish, the gifts I could buy family and friends. I asked the Lord, “Could I have a try at being rich?”
God in his wisdom has always said, no. Ecclesiastes points out the danger of being rich. There is never enough money to satisfy us; we always want more. Money cannot help us sleep at night. Greed and fear often accompany wealth. Children often money waste their parents’ wealth. Money can bring “sorrow, sickness and anger” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-17).
We are wiser to be happy for the finances God has provided (Luke 3:14; Philippians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 6:8; Hebrews 13:5).
