There is a famous story in the Bible of a wealthy young man who approached Jesus and asked Him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' To which Jesus replied that he was to keep the commandments, to honour his parents, to not steal, nor give false testimony. The young man was glad for he said he had kept those commandments since he was a child. However there was one thing lacking Jesus said, that he must sell all he had and give to the poor, in order that he may have treasure in heaven and then come follow Him. This however, wasn't received so gladly, for the young man was wealthy. It seemed he would rather have his money and many possessions, than God. And so the Bible tells us that the young man went away sad.

Following on from this Jesus tells us of the dilemma the rich face if they desire to enter heaven and illustrates it with one of the well known saying ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.' When Jesus teaches us this it is not because we are not allowed to take any baggage into heaven but rather that when we put our trust in money to make us happy, or to provide for all our needs, we are not putting our trust in God, who is the source of real heavenly happiness to those who depend on Him. We are in effect saying that we don't need God.

And herein lies the deceitfulness of wealth: that we believe that wealth in itself has power to make happiness yet in reality it is more likely to take it away.

It is not that money in itself is evil of course. Contrary to the popular saying that ‘money is the root of all evil', it is rather that 'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil' (1Timothy 6:10). Money is important and a useful tool when it is made to work for us but we shouldn't pursue the accumulation of wealth as an end in itself. Greed harms others as well as ourselves. And we shouldn't worry about what the future might bring, about what we will eat or wear even, and so build up a stockpile of money as security. Rather we should follow Jesus example to 'seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.' (Matthew 6:33)