The Trap
1 Timothy 6:9-10 (CEB) · Passing the Flame
“But people who are trying to get rich fall into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful passions that plunge people into ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves with a lot of pain because they made money their goal.” — 1 Timothy 6:9-10 (CEB)
Paul doesn’t say money is the root of all kinds of evil. He says the love of money is. The trap isn’t the currency in our wallets, it’s the place we’ve let it occupy in our hearts.
Notice Paul’s word choice: “wandered.” Nobody charts a course away from faith on purpose. Wandering happens one small choice at a time, one late night of chasing a deal, one rearrangement of priorities around what the next paycheck could buy. The trap doesn’t spring. It closes slowly, and most people don’t feel it until they’re already inside.
What Paul wants Timothy to see is that the love of money makes a faith-sized hole in our lives by inches, not by miles.
Where are you letting the love of something crowd out the love of God right now?
Guard our hearts, God, from the slow wandering that trades faith for possessions. Turn our love back to you before we notice we’ve drifted too far. Amen.