Text- Matthew 6:24 – “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon”
For some days now, we have been talking about money matters. We were able to establish that money is amoral; it has no soul, so it is incapable of assuming moral qualities such as good or bad. Money becomes evil when it becomes an object of worship (that is, LOVE and DEVOTION).
Yesterday, we talked about the love of money. Today, we will talk about devotion to money.
Being devoted to something means being focused on that particular thing almost exclusively. Devotion to money therefore denotes someone whose decisions and actions are largely determined by financial prospects and profits.
When someone is devoted to money, you won’t usually find him doing anything, or taking any step that doesn’t have any financial prospect or profit to it.
For example, if you take a job that has a higher remuneration, not minding the fact that it will create no time for you to effectively serve God, then you have demonstrated devotion to money, and mammon is your God!
A man that is devoted to money will sow seeds in Church, when he hears that “God is a God of harvest”… He will sow chiefly because of the promise of harvest, not because he wants to express his love and devotion to God.
Again, when a man is devoted to money, where he lives will be determined by where business is likely to boom, or where there are great job prospects. He would care less about the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Paul gave the solution to this menace of devotion to money in 1Timothy 6:^. He said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain”… It’s pretty simple – Follow God, and be content with his blessing.
Let me explain here, that we must not confuse contentment with laziness, complacency, and stupidity! You must be serious about money matters, but you must not become so consumed with any pursuit that overshadows your pursuit for God, and matters of His kingdom.
In Luke 5, Jesus miraculously made Peter and his companions to catch a great amount of fish, so much so that their nets were breaking, and they filled up two ships. But after it all, he said to them, “Follow me”
Verse 11 of that chapter says, “And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him”.
By toiling all night, Peter and is friends took money mater seriously. But by forsaking the bounty to follow Jesus, they sure took kingdom matters zealously. I think this generation needs to learn from them.
PRAYER
Lord, you alone will I worship; you alone will I serve. Help me to be a faithful steward of the financial and material blessings you entrust me with in Jesus Name.
Image Credit: vehadanepiphany.blogspot.com