Perhaps in nothing are the children of God so commonly unfaithful as in the stewardship of money — too much spent on luxuries and too little dispersed abroad, and even that not always wisely. When shall we learn to neither spend nor give without seeking the guidance of God? In 1 Timothy 6:9-11 the Apostle warns saints who are not rich, but who aspire to be, that there are dangers ahead. Men in the world who pursue such a course frequently “drown [themselves] in destruction and perdition,” and money-loving saints “pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” In verses 17-19 the Apostle charges those who are already rich not to “trust in uncertain riches, but in a God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” and to be ready “with open hand for every good work.” There is nothing wrong in possessing wealth (mark the word “enjoy”) if the wealth comes to us honorably, but when we consider that He to whom we owe our eternal all had not where to lay His head and when we also remember that He is still “despised and rejected of men,” to be holders of large sums of money puts us in a position of grave responsibility. In this discharge we need daily and hourly grace. We can “make to ourselves friends [by] the mammon of unrighteousness,” if our hearts so dispose us, or we may make enemies by the same means. Those who are generous and kind are beloved, but those who are selfish and haughty by reason of their wealth are disliked. Oh, that it may be said of us, as of Josiah’s workmen, “They dealt faithfully!”
E. Dennett