Wealthy Tent Dweller

I recently spoke with a new High School graduate and asked him what he wanted to be someday. “Rich”, he responded. We discussed further the pathway of getting there, including education, hard work and, most importantly, putting the Lord first. He dismissively acknowledged these things, and then went on about “needing a lot of money right now” so he could start investing it. This from an eighteen-year old with no job, education, and no apparent interest in either. Wealth and its draw are interesting things. When one lacks wealth, most desire it fervently and the things it can purchase. For the older and wiser (please note the caveat wiser), once you have wealth, you are more inclined to not be enticed to squander it. Rather, with the help of the Spirit, you begin to desire the things of eternity once you have this temporal security – to the point that you could give it all up and leave it behind if necessary. Such was the precarious polarized experience of Lehi and his two oldest sons, Laman and Lemuel.

 1 Nephi 1:4 And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.
 11 Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. 

 15 And my father dwelt in a tent.

LESSON LEARNED: The allure of money wanes once it is acquired, for the wise discover where true riches really lie. Lehi understood this, and his willingness to give it all up when asked to do so will secure even greater riches for him in the eternities.

FEEDBACK: WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ON THE ACQUISITION OF WEALTH AND THE WILLINGNESS TO GIVE IT UP FOR THE LORD?