1 Timothy 6:9

‘But those whose minds are set on being rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful longings, such as drown men in ruin and destruction.’

In total contrast again are those who desire to be rich by any means. The slaves may labour without any hope of earthly advancement (1 Timothy 6:1-2), but at least they avoid the perils of being rich. They can only set their hope on God. In contrast those who set their minds on being rich, soon fall into temptation and a snare, and are entrapped by their foolish longings. They see the glitter of gold or hear the rustle of bank-notes, or moon over their bank statements, and that is what they set their hearts on, and it fails to satisfy them. And such longings finally then result in men drowning in ruin and destruction, either in this world or the next (Luke 12:13-21; Luke 16:19-31). Compare the ‘deceitfulness of riches’ in Mark 4:19.

The pictures are vivid. First they fall into temptation, they cannot resist the call of gold, then they are caught in a snare as their search for money entraps them, then their continued longings lead them into being drowned - in the sea of ruin and destruction. They are like a man who has risked all to obtain a treasure from a sunken wreck, only to find himself entangled in weeds and in danger of drowning with none to help, or seeking treasure in a swamp and finding it, only to find himself being unavoidably sucked in by the quicksand.