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important. What is given is never enough; they plead for more, and use God
against the people to get more, and one fund raiser after another is a
profitable profession for those employed for that purpose. On the other
hand, the people expect to spiritually gain by giving, but they give the least
to gain the most. By using their contributions as justification, they are
convinced they are giving to God; the structures become larger and more
ornate. Remember the widow who gave two copper coins of little value.
Jesus said that she had given more than the wealthiest donor. She gave out
of her need, not of her excess. Mankind is now under the command of
greed, and willingly pays evil’s price in order to accumulate more wealth.
Wealth is not necessarily bad—what a person or institution does with the
wealth determines the real value.
When motivated by a pure spirit, wealth gains favor because charity and
generosity is determined by the gift and the reason for giving. The rich man
motivated by greed or an impure spirit cannot enter the kingdom, because
the greed of wealth overwhelms him. In this circumstance wealth is the
issue, but the opposite can be true as well; what a person does with the
wealth determines if the camels loaded down with goods can pass through
the eye of the needle. The pretense of God’s purpose is always used to
criticize the rich man, so his wealth may be transferred for a religious
purpose or charity, under a pretense of a heavenly reward. Entering the
kingdom is not the issue, for the kingdom resides within a person. From a
worldly point of view, a wealthy man lives only to gather more wealth under
the presumption that wealth is equivalent to success, but in fact he may be
very poor. The wealthy receive more and more, so the appetite for money
increases, never to be satisfied—enough is never enough! Remember,
however, a shroud has no pockets, and how does money profit anyone at
the last hour of life?