I recently had a discussion with a man who loves investing.  We talked about why he enjoys investing.  We also talked about the proper uses of wealth, and about the purpose of life.

That night I had a dream about a  man who loved high-quality tools. He spent many years building up a collection of professional-grade tools, more than he could ever use. He kept them in immaculate condition and loved to buy, sell and trade them.

This became a profitable business for him, and he became quite wealthy. Whereas once he had been interested in what he could do with a given tool, now he simply focussed on amassing a greater and greater collection of these valuable tools.  He was quite proud of how well he had done in this business. The tools he had obtained sat unused in his storage buildings. He never used them. He only bought and sold them.

One day this man died and stood before the Creator to give an account of his life. He expected to be commended for the diligence and skill he had shown in his business dealings. But to his dismay, the Creator asked him a simple question, one for which he had no answer.

My son, what did you do with the tools I entrusted to your care?

When I awoke I realized that my dream was a re-telling of a parable of Jesus found in Luke 12:16-21.

The ability to prosper comes from God ( Deuteronomy 8:17-18).  It is good to enjoy our ability to work and prosper. Wealth can be used to do good or evil.  If we use it to do good, we will be commended by God. However, Jesus warns us that wealth can become a snare for our soul (Matthew 6:19-21). If we focus on obtaining wealth for its own sake, we forget why we were created.

Wise people will set their hearts on God, and as God enables them to prosper, they will offer their prosperity to Him as a tool to do good.