Did you notice it says “will”, not “might” or “could”? Who wants to fall? Not me! I find it very natural to start trusting in riches. Then it occurred to me. We all do.

This is the most common mistake made with riches. It is so common that we don’t even think it is a mistake. We think its normal – everyone or almost everyone does it.

It’s a bad sign when we get all excited just because we have more money in the bank. It indicates we have an unhealthy trust in riches.Once we have some riches (few or many) we begin to trust in them. Many years ago I met a fellow believer in downtown Calgary in a mid week Bible study. His name was Ralph – but not the one now in Edmonton. Ralph was in his early sixties and lived in a downtown apartment on a fixed but meagre income. He was alone with no family. He couldn’t handle the stress of office work anymore so he took early retirement. His company pension and CPP covered his rent and incidentals but he saved nothing. I loved him because he loved Jesus. He was honest and had a keen mind. We lost touch over the years, but I’ll never forget our times together. One day we had lunch together in the old Eaton’s cafeteria. He told me how he felt good now because it was the beginning of the month and his bank account was up. Looking me in the eye, he said, “My courage all depends upon the amount in my bank account.” How profound and how humble he was. He insisted on paying for his own lunch and we met again, this time for a steak lunch. There he told me how he would enjoy steak at the beginning of the month and then live off bread and water for the last few days at month’s end.

I told him if you have $300 per month for food, why don’t you just get 30 envelopes and put $10 each envelope so that you have enough for each day. “No,” he insisted, “That wouldn’t work for me”. I wondered why, and silently thanked God for parents that taught me the importance of simple budgeting. Why be courageous in the beginning of the month and cowardly at the end? Why not have some courage for the full 30 days? More importantly, why does our courage need to be tied to our financial resources? Is that what God wants? I don’t think so. No way.

Moving our trust from visible securities to invisible securities is easier said than done, but it is extremely important. Riches are a dangerous commodity – like gasoline. They can do a lot of good or harm. They need to be managed or they will manage us. Thus the first rule with riches is: use them, but don’t trust in them.

How do we know if we are trusting in our riches? That’s not the right question. We should be asking, how much are we trusting in our riches? All of us do it. Trust is highly personal, subjective and invisible, but it has visible indicators. How depressed or elated are we as our financial resources decrease or increase? It’s a bad sign when we get all excited just because we have more money in the bank. It indicates we have an unhealthy trust in riches.

The text He who trusts in his riches will fall but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf does not specify where the righteous have their confidence. But it is certainly not in their riches. I sense this is a timely warning for us wealthy Albertans. Let’s listen. It’s better to flourish than to fall.