A recent article from Marketwatch.com offered insight into
the wealthiest men in the world. According to the recent Forbes list of the
world’s richest men, it was no surprise
to see Microsoft founder Bill Gates coming in first with a staggering $86 billion.
Warren Buffet came it at $76 million, Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg at $50 billion, and President Donald Trump weighing in, too, but only with
a paltry $3.7 million.
What the article also mentioned was that there may be
others who are worth more than even Mr. Gates but who fail to make the list. This is because of how they got their wealth and
because their total worth may not be properly documented or accounted for. The primary example is
President Putin of Russia.
Bill Browder, a former fund manager in Russia, stated
the following to CNN. “I believe that Putin is worth $200 billion. After 14
years in power of Russia,
and the amount of money that the country has made, and the amount of money that hasn’t been spent
on schools and roads and hospitals and so on, all that money is in property,
bank, Swiss bank accounts, shares, hedge funds, managed for Putin and his
cronies.”
Also, John Oliver, on HBO’s Last Week Tonight program,
stated that nothing about Putin’s
finances adds up. He said that the list of the leader’s extravagances aren’t
possible on his reported $100,000 salary. These include 58 planes and helicopters,
20 palaces and country retreats, and a billion-dollar
home somewhere on the Black Sea.
It is one thing for
someone to become wealthy beyond the imagination through honest endeavors and
hard work, but it is another thing altogether
to do it at the expense of others and through the suffering of those that
are under your care. And that kind of greed is due to the influence of human
sin!
The Bible talks at length about the spiritual dangers that
accompany the out of control pursuit of worldly riches. No two passages say it
better than James 4 and Matthew 6. James spells out a stern warning to those who place their
priorities on material goods. He begins in verse 13, “Come now, you who say, 'Today
or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and
sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen
tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little
time and then vanishes away. Instead you
ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'
But now you boast in your arrogance. All
such boasting is evil."
And in Chapter 5, James continues. “Come now, you rich, weep
and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments
are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be
a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire.”
Then Jesus addressed the subject directing His words at those whose priorities are mainly materialistic. In Matthew 6, He declared, "Do not lay up
for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also.” Then in Verse 24, He added, "No one can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be
loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” That
could not have been made much more clear!
Most of us cannot even begin to grasp what it is like to be
worth 86 billion dollars. Many in the world today cannot even fathom an amount
like $8,600 for that matter. And, yes, having massive sums of money can
make life much easier and fun on many levels – for now! But eventually the very
poor and the outrageously rich will all face the same thing at life’s end. The playing field will be fully leveled when each stands before his or her Creator. But none will be asked how much they
owned or amassed in this life. That will be more irrelevant in that moment then we can can ever imagine. What will be asked instead is how rich we have been in faith. And not just any
faith. Each one must offer up what, if anything, their personal faith in
Jesus Christ was worth and how they lived in the light of that. Riches will take on a whole new meaning immediately and forever more!
After His warning about keeping material possessions in their
proper perspective, the Lord laid out how to do just that in Matt. 6:31-33. He stated simply what not to do along with what to do. "Therefore
do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What
shall we wear?' For after all these
things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all
these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to you.”
This life is about laying up permanent treasure now for the
next life. And that can only occur when the Author of all life comes first and
foremost!
Bill Breckenridge
