A rich man living in England devised a novel way to store his wealth. He built a library for which he had a private entrance, while there was another entrance for others. Under the library he had a secret chamber for which only he had access. The chamber had strong doors. One day he went into the chamber. Suddenly there was a cyclone and the door of the chamber was shut and so were the doors of the library. The rich man was trapped with his wealth. He banged the door and had no equipment to break the door. He died as a miserable man. After searching for him in many places, they found him dead with his wealth in his embrace. He had scribbled: “In the midst of riches, I die a miserable death.” In fact, wealth was a suicidal refuge for this man.
King David wrote: “See the man who would not make God his refuge but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction! (Psalms 52:7) Wealth is a false refuge.
1) Cannot protect: The wealth could not protect his man from his imminent death. Yes, wealth could be used for many things, but it was not used when the man desperately needed it.
2) Cannot provide: The rich man could have sustained himself if he had food and water. The wealth of gold or currencies or credit cards could not be eaten. In his strong room, that man stared at the riches that could not buy him food.
3) Cannot Set free: The wealth could not give him freedom. In fact, wealth only trapped him to death. Wealth is deceptive and will not allow fruitfulness in life. (Mark 4:19) Many have wrecked their lives because of wealth.
4) Cannot give meaning: Wealth could not define the rich man’s life or offer purpose for his life. Only when life is committed to the Lord, our possessions including talents, gifts, time, resources could be purposefully used.
Is the Name of our Lord my true refuge?