The writer of Hebrews knew that those who loved the world would never be able to stand firm in the face of a storm -- that those with the greatest affection for wealth would be the first to turn aside when they understood that both losses and crosses would come from walking with Christ.
Covetousness is plainly forbidden in these words and elsewhere in the Scriptures. The Bible is replete with warnings that a desire for wealth presents grave danger for the soul. At the end of Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler [Luke 18:18-30 and Mark 10:17-27] He "looked at him and said, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.' Those who heard this asked, 'Who then can be saved?' Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with man is possible with God.'"
Jesus' point was that it is impossible for a man who trusts in riches to get into Heaven, because basically a rich man trusts in himself. He does not see his lack. The sinful heart is incredibly prone to accept counterfeit things as being valuable and to consider eternal things as lacking. Jesus offered this man everything yet he could not let go of the false thing; Jesus offered him the eternal for the temporal but his idol was materialism and he could not risk losing it. Yet God will always call us to give up the false thing in order to be given the real thing.
There is no question that wealth has great disadvantages [and, of course, there are many potential advantages for the person whose heart has been transformed by His grace]. It is difficult to have money and not trust in it. Wealth numbs our hearts to what truly satisfies as it provides such a deceitful satisfaction. The poor are typically well aware of their lack. The rich, not so much. Plus material possessions tend to focus our thoughts and interests on the things of this world and thus enslave us ... in many ways, we can become possessed by our possessions, comforts and recreations. It was Jesus who said, "The deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the Word" [Mark 4:19]. He also said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" [Matthew 6:19-21].
It is difficult not to love what you have spent your life collecting! Paul warned Timothy, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" [1 Timothy 6:10]. Miserly hoarding casts a metallic, lifeless heart. Jesus concluded his topic of money in His Sermon on the Mount by saying, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money" [Matthew 6:24].
As my pastor Erik Braun preached to our body last Sunday, it is with this truth that Jesus confronted the rich, young ruler and his sin showing him the idolatry of his heart ... despite the fact that this young man was quite satisfied with his own righteousness. His image of God was too small; he did not appreciate his own sin nor the incredible holiness of God. Yet, Jesus truly loved this man enough to share the gospel with him ... that is to share the truth with him. And the young man went away sad "because he was very wealthy." We, unlike Jesus, don't want people to walk away sad. But the truth is that it is WORSE to let people walk away BLIND to the idolatry of their hearts than it is to let them walk away sad.
Lastly, we must learn to be content. The covetous, those who love money, will never be content. Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, tell us "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income" [5:10]. We as believers must come to understand that the only real contentment in this life comes from trusting in God's care for us. We must embrace the fact that we have God ... and in Him we ultimately have everything that is ever worth having! The Apostle Paul was content despite being destitute of worldly possessions, Paul spoke of himself as "having nothing, and yet possessing everything" [2 Corinthians 6:10]. "I know what it is to be in need," he told the Philippians, "and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned to the secret of being content in any and every situation" [Philippians 4:12]. And then to Timothy, he gave this jewel: "But Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that" [1 Timothy 6:6-8].
This is such a very subtle thing yet incredibly important. Whatever we treasure more than God will become an idol to us. An our hearts are so prone to wander regarding our desires. It requires a constant vigilance on our part and much grace from the Holy Spirit on God's part to continually show us our hearts. The subtly here is that sin is fundamentally making good things into ultimate things ... career, marriage, children, wealth, prestige, power, relationships, homes, etc. Whatever we build our lives on will drive us and then one day, which too often comes sooner than we might think or care for, we will be face to face with the ultimate thing, the God of the universe, and He will demand an account of our lives. What will we be able to say then? Fortunately, God's grace will be sufficient for His children as He has already established that day in eternity and His Spirit is constantly working to prepare us for it. The good news is it really depends much less on us than we think and a lot more on God than we realize, and we can trust Jesus promise "that what is impossible with man, is possible with God."
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