Matthew 19:23,24 (Then Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily, I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.)

It is good enough to be wealthy, but riches become a dangerous snare when they begin to control your life.

Instead of riches becoming an errand boy, they turn into a master in some cases, depending on their source. If your riches come from God, they become a blessing, but if their source is questionable, they become a source of sorrow and destruction.

Everyone wants to be rich in life, but riches come with responsibility. God will not give riches without attaching responsibility to them.

Riches are useful, but they are also deceptive. If you don’t manage them well, they will make you think you are better than others and eventually make your possessions become your identity.

They can also make you think you have the power to make every decision without putting God first.

Lazarus made heaven, though he died poor, but he died in right standing with God. He was poor on earth but rich towards God and His kingdom.

There are also plenty of poor people in hell. Just as riches can become a curse, poverty can also become a curse when it makes a person unrighteous before God.

The rich man went to hell, not merely because he was rich, but because he was deceived by his riches. They made him believe that the riches belonged to him alone and that he could decide how to use them without God. He failed to understand that God is the One who gives riches and determines how they should be used so that they do not become snares instead of blessings.

Riches are like other talents, but those who have them often refuse to utilise them the way other talents are being used.

When you don’t know the purpose of an invention, misusing it becomes inevitable.

Before God gives you riches, He would have made you realise their purpose. There is nothing in this life that doesn’t have an essence. Those who don’t understand the essence of a thing will misuse it, and what was meant to be a blessing can become a snare to their souls.

Instead of using riches to glorify God, they use them to expand the kingdom of God’s enemy.

The Bible says how difficult it will be for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. It says that it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to make heaven.

Instead of asking why it is so and making the necessary amendments, many rich people have become even more greedy, acquiring more without understanding the purpose and usefulness of what is already in their hands.

Instead of overcoming the deceitfulness of riches, they allow riches to dictate their relationship with God and man.

Abraham was rich, and he made heaven because he didn’t allow his riches to lord over him. He used them according to divine purpose. He didn’t lay up his treasure on earth; he laid it up where moth and rust would not destroy.

So also Isaac was wealthy and still made heaven. So also his son, Jacob. They inherited the riches of their father and still made heaven. They had riches, but the riches did not possess them.

The moment you allow riches to take charge of your life, you have surrendered your authority to mammon, the demons in charge of earthly wealth.

Riches become a blessing when you use them to prepare for your eternal habitation. They become a snare when you lay them up as treasure on earth.

Jesus didn’t want riches to become a snare to the rich ruler. He told him to sell all and give it to the poor, but unfortunately, riches had already possessed him, and there was nothing he could do until they ruined his life.

The moment riches turn into endless property acquisition on earth, they have become a snare that cages the soul and makes you forget God, because where your treasure is, there will your affection also be.

Riches become a snare when you use them to impress others and acquire more enemies instead of securing your eternal habitation.

Some Christians might have lived longer had they not received riches that were able to destroy them. They use riches to gratify the flesh and eventually become destroyed by the very riches they prayed for.

It is those riches that push some people into joining secret cults just to protect and keep them. Through fear of the unknown, they are pushed into the mouth of Satan, who devours them.

Riches become a snare when you think you can eat anything simply because you have money to buy it. The food and drink, in turn, become snares to your health and cut your life short, not allowing you to fulfil the purpose for which you were created.

If God refuses to give some Christians money at a particular period, it doesn’t mean they have been forgotten. It may be God’s way of protecting them from the snare of the fowler.

Some are on the prayer mountain, breaking the yokes of poverty, but in their minds, all they want is to use the riches to impress and oppress people if they receive them. How will God answer such prayers? God won’t answer until they pray according to the Lord’s will for their lives.

If the purpose of the riches is yet to materialise, the riches will be delayed until you enter into their purpose.

If you’re not ready to feed a nation, don’t expect to be given the riches to feed yourself. Some are too stingy to use the little given to them to feed their family and the poor, yet they are praying to God for riches to feed a nation. If you’re not faithful in little, how will God give you much?

It is those who become faithful in little that God will give much, because it has been proven that they will also be faithful in much.

The heart of man is deceptive above all things. I have seen some people who, immediately they become rich, change their circle from Christians to unbelievers. That is what has been in their minds all along. It is the riches that exposed their true nature.

Some might have made heaven had they died poor, but their riches entrapped them and made them lose their focus. Many were given opportunities as a test by managing other people’s riches, but they failed by diverting them to themselves. How will God give them what belongs to them?

It’s not all riches that come from God. Those who stole their way to riches are in danger of being defrauded by others. As they do to others, others will also do to them. This is the law of sowing and reaping. When they think they want to enjoy their stolen riches, another person will come and steal them from them.

Whoever gathers riches through unrighteous ways will leave them in the middle of his life and end up as a fool.

Don’t hasten to become rich; you are digging your own grave. What you think will become a blessing may end up becoming a snare that captures your soul.

Jesus said that it will be easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to make heaven, for many acquired riches outside God’s will and spent them on things that have no eternal value.

The moment you start thinking that your riches are what make you who you are is the day you start losing your value in the world and in the presence of God.

It’s not what is in your hand that determines who you are; it’s what is deposited inside of you that you fail to utilise for the benefit of mankind.

If the riches are gone and what remains in you can’t make you rich again, you are the most wretched person on earth. No wonder some people commit suicide the moment they lose their riches, because nothing is left for them to rely on.

That is why Satan removes their backbone and renders them impotent, because they hope in their riches instead of hoping in God who provided them.

Job was relegated to the background to test where his hope lay, but the devil lost because his hope was in God, not in earthly possessions.

All things may fail, but God can never fail. He remains faithful to His word and makes His promises come to pass in the lives of those who believe in Him.

Prayer: Father Lord, don’t give me what will destroy my soul in the end, in Jesus’ name, amen.