Psalm 49:16-20. Be not afraid when another becomes rich and the glory of his house increases. For when he dies none of it will go with him. While alive he will count himself happy, and will receive praise for having done well for himself, but he will go to the generation of his fathers who will never see the light. Man cannot live forever in the pomp he surrounds himself with - he is like a beast that perishes.

Our attachment to earthly things robs us of our souls - thus we become like beasts perish. We may think "Oh no, not me, I can handle wealth well, and I can stay holy and good." But God knows us better than we know ourselves and he is saying here very clearly that wealth corrupts us and makes it almost impossible for us to get to heaven (Jesus said the same thing later, severl times). We become like the animals, soulless and in pursuit only of earthly things.

So is wealth worth the price of our souls? Absolutely not. I think we should avoid getting rich just like we avoid eating things that are bad for us. It is too dangerous! The ironic thing is, though, I have found that once I became completely comfortable with seeking nothing more than enough to survive with realtive comfort, more and more wealth was given to me, making me have to really evaluate whether I truly believed I did not need more. I think that this is the way things work, once we make a decision to be holy, the devil finds a way to tempt us away from it. The decision I came to was to give the excess away, use it to see to the needs of others. But even that takes some research and work, and I have been so very busy lately that I can't even do that properly, plus how much is "excess"?! (I think that's the devil again!) 

I do believe not being attached to our wealth and using it to help others is the key. But I do still also find myself worrying about retirement and the future and hoping that I have enough money to take care of myself and my family. These are things I struggle with almost every day. But here, God is telling me to let it go. I am to be a good steward, yes, but I am to use excess wealth for others and he will take care of the rest!

Lord, help me to use my money wisely and in accordance with your will.