Proverbs 23:4-5

Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
    do not trust your own cleverness.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
    for they will surely sprout wings
    and fly off to the sky like an eagle.  - Proverbs 23:4-5

Dear Heavenly Father, 

When I read your proverbs I sense that you are guiding me in the middle road between two disastrous ditches.  The one ditch is laziness and the other is selfish ambition.  Here you are helping me with the latter.  It's so easy to get out of balance.  Sometimes I can make seizing opportunities the only thing.  That's when I start to work too many hours and tend to neglect relationships. It's not long before I'm tired, cranky and feeling isolated. I love how you demote the accumulation of wealth to its proper place in my heart.  I love your word, Lord.  That line, "Don't wear yourself out to get rich." says it all.  My health and relationships are more valuable than wealth. Oh God, help me to live a balanced life as you have so graciously taught me. I want to be industrious but balanced.  Your wisdom for your finite creatures is worth more than all the gold in the world. 

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson 

Don't let time, your most valuable possession, be wasted will you try too hard to accumulate more stuff. 

Additional Reading: Matthew 6:24-34