A man who was known to be "tighter than the bark on a tree" by everyone in his town, needed to travel several hundred miles for a meeting. He went to a local pilot and asked how much he would charge to take his wife and him to their destination. When the pilot told him the price would be fifty dollars each, the man ranted and raved about the high cost, acting like a child having a temper tantrum.

The pilot decided to have some fun with him, and said, "Okay, I'll tell you what I'll do. If you can keep your mouth shut for the whole trip, I will take you for free. If you make one sound, it will be one hundred dollars each."

The miserly man agreed, and he and his wife boarded the small aircraft. The pilot took off almost straight up. He did flips and loops, and nose-dives. Much to his surprise, his passengers uttered not a word. When the plane landed the pilot conceded, "Well, I guess it was a free ride. I never thought you could go for a ride like that without shouting something."

"I must confess," said the miser. "I almost did say something at one point."

"Oh," asked the pilot, "when was that?"

"On that last barrel roll, when my wife fell out of the plane."

But the ride was free! Most people like to have money. And most people would like to have even more money. There's nothing wrong with it. Money is a necessity in our culture, but we should not let it cloud our senses. If we start putting money above other things, it becomes sin. If we put money above our principles, morals, and ethics, it has become our god and will ultimately destroy us.

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.