Some years ago there came to this country a very poor young man. He found a job in the timber lands of Wisconsin. Being industrious he gradually accumulated some timber acreage of his own. Soon he began to prosper, and after a few years he invested in a lumber milling industry. Before long he owned more than one mill, and this led him to expand into northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. In a few years he was known as a rich man, investing in timber acreage in the far northwest and eventually owning valuable land by the thousands of acres, the very finest timber in the country. At the time of his death neither he nor his relatives nor friends knew what he was worth financially, he had become so wealthy.

When the time came for him to die, however, he could not take one cent of his riches with him, for as I Timothy 6:7 says: “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we carry nothing out”.

It seems difficult for most men to learn that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15). They close their ears to the words of wisdom spoken by the Lord: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matt. 6:19,20).

The truest, most lasting riches of all are referred to in II Corinthians 8:9, where the Apostle Paul says: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich”.

And these riches may be had by faith — by accepting them as a gift, for “the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.6:23).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

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