Going Broke?

Going Broke?

The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

1 Timothy 6:10

In 1971 I began working as a writer on the personal staff of oil billionaire H. L. Hunt in Dallas. It was the first real paid writing job I had ever had, and I was excited. I wrote political-comment columns that bore Mr. Hunt’s name—the series was called Hunt for Truth.

Frankly, being raised in a small town and going to a conservative Christian college, I had no clue who H. L. Hunt really was when I first went to work. When the president of my college had asked me if I would like to work for Mr. Hunt, I asked, “Does he make ketchup?” Little did I know that, at the time, he was considered the richest man in the world.

One of Mr. Hunt’s sons, Lamar, was a world leader in the sports arena. He founded World Championship Tennis, owned racehorses around the world, and had recently purchased the Dallas Texans football team. He moved the team to Kansas, where it became the Kansas City Chiefs.

Reporters were always trying to catch Mr. Hunt saying something that would make him look foolish, but he usually managed to turn the tables on them, even though he was elderly.

One day a reporter came to interview Mr. Hunt. One of the questions he asked was, “Mr. Hunt, your son Lamar purchased a football team about two years ago. And he has lost a million dollars a year on that team. Now, just what do you think of that?”

Mr. Hunt ran his hand through his wispy white hair, thought for a minute, then said with a twinkle in his eye, “Well, I figure if Lamar loses a million dollars a year, he’ll be broke in about four hundred and fifty years.”

O Lord, you are the source of all blessings, including our money. May we learn to concentrate on you rather than on money, knowing that you will provide everything we need in this life. Amen.