“Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the Lord” (Jer 9:23-24).
In 1901, twenty investors paid $250 each to buy 500 shares to finance the start of a new company, the brainchild of a sidewalk vendor named King C. Gillette. It was a slow start. His new-fangled product in 1903 sold only 57 safety razors in the whole country! But times have changed. Procter & Gamble in 2005 bought the Gillette Co. in a stock swap worth about $57 billion.
Yet, as Solomon reminded us, “There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches” (Prov 13:7). Lord, help us to see the difference between true and false riches, between investing in time and in eternity.