Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also….No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. –Matthew 6:19-21, 24
In 1923 a very important meeting was held at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Attending this meeting were nine of the world’s most successful financiers: Charles Schwab, steel magnate; Samuel Insull, president of the largest utility company; Howard Hopson, president of the largest gas company; Arthur Cotton, the greatest wheat speculator, Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange; Albert Fall, a member of the President’s Cabinet; Leon Fraser, president of the Bank of International Settlements; Jesse Livermore, the great “bear” on Wall Street; and Ivar Krueger, head of the most powerful monopoly.
Twenty-five years later, Charles Schwab had died in bankruptcy, having lived on borrowed money for five years before his death; Samuel Insull had died a fugitive from justice and penniless in a foreign land; Howard Hopson was insane; Arthur Cotton had died abroad, insolvent; Richard Whitney had spent time in Sing Sing Prison; Albert Fall had been pardoned so that he could die at home; Jesse Livermore, Ivar Krueger, and Leon Fraser had all died by suicide. All of these men had learned well the art of making a living, but none of them had learned HOW TO LIVE!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What was missing in all of these men’s lives? Why is it so easy to slide into the same kind of goals as these men?
2.What does Matthew 6:21, 24 mean for you today?
FURTHER READING:
Psalm 19:7-11