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Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 1 Timothy 6:9
“They who wish to be rich. After having exhorted him to be content, and to despise riches, he now explains how dangerous is the desire of having them, and especially in the ministers of the Church, of whom he expressly speaks in this passage. Now the cause of the evils, which the Apostle here enumerates, is not riches, but an eager desire of them, even though the person should be poor. And here Paul shows not only what generally happens, but what must always happen; for every man that has resolved to become rich gives himself up as a captive to the devil. Most true is that saying of the heathen poet, — “He who is desirous of becoming rich is also desirous of acquiring riches soon.” Hence it follows, that all who are violently desirous of acquiring wealth rush headlong. Hence also those foolish, or rather, mad desires, which at length plunge them into perdition. This is, indeed, a universal evil; but in the pastors of the Church, it is more easily seen; for they are so maddened by avarice, that they stick at nothing, however foolish, whenever the glitter of gold or silver dazzles their eyes.”
John Calvin in Commentary on Timothy, Titus, Philemon (CCEL) 127.
When my wife and I made the decision to store up our treasures in heaven rather than on earth over 16 years ago, some unnamed people said to me: Are you insane?
Today, some 16 years later, after posting Daily Meditations over the same timeframe, I echo the sentiment of Calvin and say that anyone who desires to be rich financially in this life: Are you insane?
I am not saying it is wrong to have wealth because the more we give, the more God seems to lavish spiritual and financial resources for us to steward. I am urging you not to desire the wrong thing.
You cannot serve God and Mammon. Desire the former, not the latter. Handle it with biblical integrity and watch Him lavish on you according to His good pleasure.
Make God your chief desire. Seek Him first and all the other stuff falls into place. Choose any other course and I say one more time for emphasis: Are you insane?
Want to read my scholarly paper “Wealth and Worship in Ancient Ephesus” delivered as part of the Greco Roman Bacgrounds panel on at the ETS 2025 Conference. Click here to download. It was well received yesterday.