One candidate is life itself. Enormous amounts of money may postpone death slightly, but it will come. Scripture says,
No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him . . . .Many parents would be willing to buy back a child from death, but it is not possible. Besides life, love cannot be bought, though many go into debt trying. Love is not purchasable. Solomon in his book about love points out,
If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.Add to our list wisdom. It is worth far more than money and is far more desirable. Wisdom personified as a lady in Proverbs says:
Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.She was speaking here of God's wisdom of course. A good name and a good reputation is also worth more than money. Listen to Solomon again:
A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.The list can go on. While the Bible has much to say about the proper use of money, yet so many other things are far more important. Since this is absolutely true, then significant amounts of our time should be spent developing our life properly. We should devote time to being the kind of loving person that God would have us to be. We must cultivate wisdom, the beginning of knowledge.
Our life needs to be balanced so that we have a good name and a good reputation, not just a reputation for making money. In the Law given to Israel, God required the return of at least one-seventh of their time as well as one-tenth of their money. While money is not to be either scoffed at or worshiped, it isn't the main purpose of life. It is a tool to be used to develop the things that really count, both in life and eternity.
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