Our passage begins like this: "Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land." (Isaiah 5:8) Verse 8 is a reference to greed and excess. It indicates an inability to be satisfied. It indicates a constant yearning for more. The people to whom this is referring do not have the Lord at the center of their lives; therefore, they have an emptiness in their soul that no worldly possessions or achievements can ever fill.
The Apostle Paul, who experienced the loss of his wealth and status when he accepted Christ as his Savior, said, "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." (1 Timothy 6:6-8) It's not that Paul wouldn't have liked to have had more worldly comforts from time to time, but he considered his relationship with Christ to be far more satisfying than anything this world could ever offer, so he said that with Christ he was happy even if he had nothing more than a set of clothes on his back and something to eat.
This isn't to say it's sinful to have more than the basic necessities of life. Many godly people work hard to provide for their families and to purchase a comfortable home, pay for a good education for their children, save money for retirement, and even own a successful business that employs a lot of people. Owning things in this world isn't a sin in itself. But valuing those things above God is a sin. And of course it goes without saying that obtaining things dishonestly is a sin.
Because the people have forsaken the Lord in favor of the things this world offers, He will remove those things. It's important for us to keep in mind that the Lord has the right to remove idols from our lives. As a responsible and loving Father, He has a duty to remove idols from our lives because anything we put in place of Him is going to cause harm to us and to those around us. In today's passage the focus is on possessions and money, so to quote the Apostle Paul again: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:9-10)
Having money in the bank is not a sin as long as money is not an idol to us and as long as the money was obtained through honest hard work that's done in an attitude of glorifying God with our talents and education. It's the love of money---putting the pursuit of money above the pursuit of a relationship with the Almighty Creator---that is a sin. When a person puts money ahead of God, they fall into temptation to obtain money any way they can. They forsake time with the Lord in pursuit of money. They forsake time with their families in pursuit of money. If money itself provided satisfaction, there wouldn't be so many rich people who are miserable, who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, who have been through many marriages and divorces, who have little to no relationship with their children, and who have even committed suicide.
The Lord, like any good Father, has a responsibility to give us what we need and He enjoys giving us more than we need. I think most of us have more than the bare necessities. It's not a sin to have more than we need, under the right conditions, and it's certainly not a sin to be grateful for the things our loving Father has given us. But money and possessions can become a snare if we are not careful to keep the Lord at the center of our lives. Only when He is in His proper place in our lives can we fully enjoy the blessings that exist in this world. Marriage, children, a home, a car, a job, some extra money left over at the end of the month---all those things are so much more enjoyable when our lives revolve around the Lord! This is what Jesus Christ meant when He said: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33) We are to seek the Lord first, not the things of this world, and if we put Him first, we don't have to worry about having what we need. In addition to giving us what we need, our Father enjoys giving us a lot of the things we want, but none of those things will ever satisfy us if He is not first in our lives.
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