by Woodrow Kroll

This is the third in a series of studies from the book of Ecclesiastes. --Editor

Pearl of Wisdom
"He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanity." Ecclesiastes 5:10

At the peak of his career, Michael Jordan made more than $300,000 dollars a game.

• That's about $10,000 a minute, assuming he plays 30 minutes per game.
• As "king of product endorsements" he was making about $40 million a year.
• He made $178,100 a day, whether he worked or not.
• Assuming seven hours of sleep a night, he made $52,000 every night--while sleeping!
• Even at his peak, Michael Jordan would have to save 100 percent of his income for 270 years just to have $1 billion like Bill Gates of Microsoft!

Now I don't want to put a pin in this bubble of success, but the Bible has some very sobering things to say about money, and one of them is found in Ecclesiastes 5:10. This pearl of wisdom says, "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity." You can always use more, but no matter how much more you get, you will not be satisfied.

You're probably familiar with the expression "Money isn't everything, but it's way ahead of whatever is in second place." We all feel like that sometimes, but do you know that there are lots of things money cannot do? The Bible highlights several things.

Money cannot satisfy a hungry soul

--Ben Franklin

There's just more to life than money. One of the facts about corporate life is that the average chief executive of a company today works 60 hours-plus every week of his life. And yet, at an unprecedented rate, CEOs of large corporations making enormous salaries are leaving their companies because they can't handle the emptiness.

Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. Better is a handful with quietness than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind. Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun (Eccles. 4:4-7).

Regardless of your situation in life, you can never satisfy a hungry soul with money. There is a big God-shaped hole in the middle of your heart that can be satisfied only by God. Try as you may, money will never satisfy your hungry soul. Only God can do that.

Money can't enrich a greedy soul

In Acts 8, an evangelist by the name of Philip was preaching in the city of Samaria. While there, many people trusted Jesus Christ as Savior. People were healed of infirmities and diseases, and other good things happened while he was ministering in this city. Among those who made professions of faith was a sorcerer named Simon. He was not only saved but also baptized. However, "when Simon saw that through laying on the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, 'Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.' But Peter said to him, 'Your money will perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!'" (Acts 8:18). A greedy man like Simon will always walk away disappointed because God's gifts can't be bought.

Money cannot buy everything. And it's not that people haven't tried. With the advent of plastic money, the credit card has been used to run up the largest consumer debt in history. People have literally attempted to buy happiness. But these same people, now saddled with the weight of enormous debt, are miserable.

Consistently over the years surveys have shown regardless of how much money we have, and regardless of our standard of living, the average person considers that about 20 percent more money would make him happy. That's all we need--just a little more. It doesn't matter how much we already have, if only we had 20 percent more we'd really be happy. But money cannot enrich a greedy soul.

Howard Hughes was one of the richest men in the world, and yet from what we know he:

• Lived a joyless, half-lunatic life.
• Fled from one resort hotel to another--from Las Vegas to Nicaragua to Acapulco.
• Acted progressively odder as he grew older.
• Had a straggly beard that hung down to his waist and hair that reached down to the middle of his back.
• His fingernails were two inches long.
• He had toenails that hadn't been trimmed in so long they resembled corkscrews.

Hughes once said, "Every man has his price, or a guy like me couldn't exist." And yet when he died, most of his employees who have broken their silence reported their disgust for him. Money couldn't satisfy his greedy soul.

Money can't redeem a doomed soul

In Zephaniah 1:14-15 we read, "The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers."

Zephaniah is talking about the day of God's judgment. He continues in verses 17-18: "I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath."

The day of God's judgment will come. That's one of the certainties of life. But what are you going to do on the day that God will judge you? Will you whip out your checkbook and try to buy your way out of God's wrath? Will you cash in some of your CDs and say, "Look, God, this is what I have. It's all Yours. Just deliver me from the doom of my own soul"? No one can buy his way out of destruction. Money can't deliver anyone from the consequences of their sin.

And what's more, money cannot deliver a nation from the wrath of God. If money couldn't deliver Solomon's Israel from her sin, if money couldn't deliver Caesar's Rome from her sin, I wonder what makes Americans think that money can deliver America from her sin? If you're not an American, what about your country? Are your national leaders assuming that somehow they can buy their way out of national sin, collective sin or personal sin? In the day when God's great wrath falls in judgment (Rev. 6:17), money will be of no use to anyone.

Someone has suggested that the real measure of our wealth is how much we'd be worth if we lost all of our money. So how much are you worth? No one begrudges anyone else the money they have made honestly, whether by investing or working hard or through a family inheritance. Indeed, the Bible says that when we have that kind of wealth, we have a gift from God (Eccles. 5:18-19). God doesn't say it is wrong to be rich. What God's Word says is we can't rely on our riches (Job 31:24-28).

Read the call of Isaiah, the prophet. He says, "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isa. 55:1-2). Those verses tell us that salvation, the redemption of our lost souls, has nothing to do with money. Peter says, "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

Do you know what purchased your redemption? It was the obedience of Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary. He died to pay the penalty for your sin. That which can redeem your lost soul is not your checkbook, not your numbered bank account, not your CDs, not your retirement fund, but the blood of Jesus Christ.

What can you trust?

Do yourself a favor. Take some time and think about all the blessings you have from the hand of God. Think about the things that didn't cost you any money at all. In fact, why not make a list of them and share them with your friends as a testimony to the Lord? It's good for us to see once in a while just how very little money can do for us in an eternal way. Certainly we need money to live. We need it in daily commerce. None of us ever seems to have enough. It takes money to continue a ministry like this one at Back to the Bible. It takes money to clothe and feed your family. It takes money to purchase a home. But there are so many people who think it takes money to live, and it doesn't. Real life--eternal life, saving life--is the free gift of God.

Have you trusted Jesus Christ today to be your Savior, or are you still trusting your money? Money cannot satisfy a hungry soul. Money cannot enrich a greedy soul. Money cannot deliver a doomed soul. And money cannot redeem a lost soul. If you're looking for eternal redemption, if you're looking for a future in heaven, you need to trust the blood of Jesus Christ. Trust Him as your Savior. That's the way to get God's redemption.

Here's a real pearl of wisdom. All the money in the world cannot do for you what one act of obedience at Calvary's cross did for you. You can hoard money. You can amass great wealth. You can build a sound financial portfolio. But one day you will leave it all behind. In fact, most people don't fully enjoy it while they have it. But that which is not bought with silver or gold--your eternal redemption in Christ Jesus--can be enjoyed now and counted on for all eternity. Make sure you're trusting in the right thing.