Proverbs 13:11

Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

Right methods of obtaining wealth

The text implies three things.

I. That wealth in itself is a good thing.

1. All men strive for it, in obedience to the original command--to possess the earth and subdue it.

2. The services it can render are evidences of its value.

3. The Word of God approves it. Not money, but the “love” of it, is “a root of evil.”

II. Wealth may be obtained in different ways. The two ways mentioned in the text.

1. The way of vanity, which may represent fraud, gambling, reckless speculation, etc.

2. The way of labour, in all which there is profit (Proverbs 14:23). See frequent commendations of diligence in the Scriptures.

III. The increase or decrease of wealth is affected by the mode of its acqusition. “Gotten by vanity,” it diminishes; procured by labour, it “shall increase.” Two considerations as to the constitution of human nature help us to understand how this comes about.

1. What a man does not work for he seldom appreciates. Difficulty of attaining augments value. “Easy got, soon spent,” has passed into a proverb.

2. What one does not value he is apt to squander. Spendthrifts are those who value money slightly. (F. Wagstaff.)

Ill-gotten national wealth

What is true of private is no less true of public possessions. When such possessions are obtained, on the part of any country, by self-aggrandising and unprovoked aggression, extermination and conquest, what are such means but injustice, oppression, and murder, on an extended scale? Gathering possessions by a violation of the rights of others, of the principles of equity and honour and good faith, or, in one word, of the royal law, is turning a country’s glory into shame, and under the righteous and retributive administration of Heaven the extension of dominion is but an extension of danger. (R. Wardlaw.)

Wealth gotten by vanity

When the famous M. Blanc, who founded the Monte Carlo Casino, was proprietor of a gambling establishment at Homburg, it was his custom to bring down 300,000 francs every morning to meet the bank’s losses. When this sum was exhausted the bank was said to be “broke,” and the doors were closed for the day, and it is recorded that the unique feat of “breaking the bank” was accomplished three days in succession by the notorious South American Spaniard, Garcia. After this his luck began to turn, and six weeks later he was obliged to ask M. Blanc for a few louis with which to return to Paris. (Daily Mail.)