The Love of Money's Ruin

“The love of money is the root of all evils and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds” (1 Tim. 4:10). There is an old legend about a rich, but selfish old man who kept all of his money hidden in a secret chest in the darkest corner of his attic.

Each night, when he was sure he would not be seen, he stole up into the attic, quietly opened his treasure chest and gazed lovingly at his money. He did this for years until, one night, his hiding place having been discovered, the money was stolen. When the miser found out what had hap- pened, he ran into the street and began to moan and groan so loudly that all his neighbors came out to see what had hap- pened.

When they heard about the robbery, one of the neigh- bors said to the victim, “You say that each night you opened the chest and looked at all your money. But did you ever take any of it out?’

“No,” said the old man, “I just opened up the chest and looked at the money.” To which the neighbor replied, “In that case, the money wasn’t doing a thing for you or any- one else, so you might just as well look into an empty chest every night.”