A Warning to the Rich – James 5
‘Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.’ — James 5:1–2
Rich people are always those who have more than us! Or so we say. Very few people would accept that they are rich, yet most of us in the western world have way more than others. We are incredibly rich compared to other people in other places and at other times in history.
So, this warning in James 5 is for us. We are told to weep and howl for all the misery that is going to come on us. Our riches are corrupted, our clothes are motheaten, and our gold and silver is cankered. The point is that all that we have in this life will eventually perish, and if we are trusting in our riches we too will perish as well.
From God’s perspective, the rich on earth who trust in their riches are not really rich, because all their riches are fleeting. The truly rich are those who lay up treasure in heaven.
May God help us to invest in true riches, riches that are eternal, even if that means having less in this world.