Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- January 12, 2012
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight”. Luke 16:13-15
There is a servitude that accompanies the love of God or money, for we serve what we love. In the case of Christ and cash you cannot serve both at the same time. The service of one cancels out the service of the other. It is the subtle service of money that short circuits service to my Savior Jesus. I cannot love Him and stuff at the same time, Jesus says, ‘I will hate the one and love the other’.
If we are not careful our actions build an altar to the almighty dollar, and we ignore Almighty God, unless things go wrong and then we long for the Lord, our first love. Holy God is jealous over love affairs outside of Himself, especially when money becomes our mistress, a demanding one at that.
Jesus says love of money replaces love for Him, so how do you know if you are unfaithful? To defend or justify excessive amounts of time thinking or worrying about money is a sure bet it has captured your love. To scheme about, manipulate for more, or be consumed with running out makes you a likely candidate of a lover of money. However, there is a remedy for our love affair with stuff, and that is to give it away.
Replace getting with giving, and then your love of God and people will excommunicate your love/hate relationship with money. Generosity frees you from being owned by money, and cash cannot control what it does not have. Make money a servant of your Savior Jesus and you will certainly serve Him in the process. The reason many financially poor followers of Christ are faithful and free is because money has not become their master. Therefore, go with Christ over cash and you will find fulfillment.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s” (I Timothy 6:10).
How can I increase my love for God and people, and eradicate my love of money?
Related Readings: Proverbs 23:5; Romans 13:8; Acts 5:8; 8:20; Hebrews 13:5
Post/Tweet this today: It is the subtle service of money that short circuits service to my Savior Jesus. #money #service
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