"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36,37).

The great question is, "What profit?" When everything has been totaled up, what will this or that transaction yield? By how much shall I actually have been the gainer? What profit?

An American millionaire said on a bed of sickness, "The poorest man I know is the man who has nothing but money." Another said, "Though a man without money is poor, the man with nothing but money is poorer still!" Worldly possessions cannot bear up the spirits from fainting and shrinking when trial and troubles come. Augustine once remarked that "Earthly riches are full of poverty." This is certainly far nearer the truth than is the idea that a man who has $100,000 must be twice as happy as the man who has $50,000. Never was a greater mistake made than this, yet how commonly is it believed.

It is far more correct to say that money is a universal provider for everything but happiness, and a universal passport to every place but heaven.

The word commonly used for "riches" in the Old Testament is frequently translated "heavy." This is very significant, for the one who possesses abundant riches best knows what burdens such possessions bring. Another has said, "There is a burden of care in getting them, of fear in keeping them, of temptation in using them, of guilt in abusing them, of sorrow in leaving them, and the burden of accounts to be given up at the Judgment Seat of Christ concerning them."

Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28).

—George Cutting