Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Proverbs 23:4-5
“Observation shows us that there is a fascination in wealth which renders it extremely difficult for the possessors of it to maintain their equilibrium…growing wealth will prove no blessing to thee unless thou gettest growing grace. Prosperity destroys a fool and endangers a wise man; be on thy guard, good friend, for whether thou be the one or the other, thy testing hour is come.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) in “Slippery Places” in The Sword and the Trowel ed. (London Metropolitan Tabernacle, January 1867) 157-159.
Let us pray for “growing grace” in 2016, for God often provides “growing wealth” to those who walk in obedience. Father in Heaven, help us not loose our “equilibrium” but be on guard and cast but a glance at riches because our eyes are fixed on You!
This afternoon Sammy and I head out to go fly fishing with Clay and Charlie Jones on the San Juan River in Navajo Dam, NM, over the next few days. They are more than fellow fly fishermen. As the “testing hour” has come, they are wise brothers and accountability partners with whom we start each year by spending a few days together.