Riches, then, should be righteously acquired; and the acquiring of them should be made secondary to the learning to know God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. It is natural that every boy and girl should plan for the future, and that the plans should include the accumulation, if possible, of some of this world's goods. But Jesus would not have those who know him to be like the nations of the world. They seek after the riches of the world merely for the sake of the riches themselves. They love money--and Paul said, you know, that, "the love of money is the root of all evil." The disciples of Jesus will never serve mammon; they will make mammon serve them, and use riches for good. Money itself will not be the object of their love, but the service that money can be made to render. Jesus taught this lesson in a parable often misunderstood. [Sidenote: The parable of the unjust steward.] "There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods, and he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself. What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship. I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may {179} receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him. Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another. And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him. Take thy bill, and write four score. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you. Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."