“You cannot serve God and money”

(Matthew 6:24) “You cannot serve God and money”

We all have dreams, hopes and ambitions but most of the time that is all man centred; it is all about self! But this is another great lie that the devil has sold us as an honourable attribute to have. Let me explain; without going into any specifics and singling out any pet subject let me rather speak in broader terms and leave the interpretation to your own consequence and the work of the Spirit in your lives. If grace has fallen on us as it has for some, our eyes have been opened to the message of the glorious gospel. Jesus Christ is real in our lives and we have received His Spirit and the Holy Spirit now lives within us, He is alive in us. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” (Romans 8:9)

Think of it like a man occupying a house, prior to his occupancy the house stood empty, but now it has a tenant. We were all blinded by sin and walked around in the dark groping at the crumbs of life, yes even when we won best sportsman or the top academic award. All that type of achievement does is stroke ones ego, just another decoy in life to try and keep you away from the truth and living in it! Anything and everything that is man-centred is exactly what is says, it is about man and about self. The way we like to reason and I have heard these types of remarks made; “but it is not a sin, it is a good thing to be a doctor you are helping people” or “he has such talent I think we must send him abroad to develop that talent.” You are right if you say that on the surface none of those ambitions or goals is sin, however what we must examine in our lives is the difference between that which is man-centred and that which is God-centred. Anything that we do and I say anything or everything without God in the forefront of our minds is man-centred and therefore it is sin in itself. We all need daily bread to sustain our mortal flesh, if we do not eat we will eventually die, so we must eat, but when I take what I eat for granted, when I think as a man and believe I have the right to my daily bread and I overlook the grace of God in my life it is all about me and not about my great heavenly Father. “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)

We reason like this, “I work hard you know, so therefore I am entitled to a treat.” I hope you see the subtle deception with this kind of reasoning. We have been exhorted to imitate Paul as much as he imitates Christ, we pray on a daily basis; well I hope we do have a desire to be more like our Saviour. Man has invented many clever snares to trap the animal they hunt and with great success. Satan goes around like a roaring lion; with subtle deception attempting to ensnare those that now confess Jesus as Lord. Do not be fooled everything that is man-centred is not from God. All we need to do to confirm this to be true is to look at all the examples through scripture that pleased God and He got men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to pen those accounts. Let us look at the greatest faith chapter in the bible, Hebrews 11...

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.” (Hebrews 11:3-14)

These are all great examples of God-centred faith and they are there to help us understand how we should also live, if we want to be great, then we must lose our lives so that we may find it in Him and we must live in accordance to His will and not our wants. We must lose all our human endeavours wherever and whenever they rob us of our relationship with God our Father no matter how honourable they may seem. It is about heaven and our lives there and not about our lives here on earth. I know I have struck a nerve, nevertheless ask yourself this one question, what is of importance to you, this life or eternity? Whatever the answer will be will determine how we live. Let us not say both because we cannot serve two master; "No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

If and when I do anything in my life before I consider His will for my life, I walk according to my own lust and not His will! And if I am honest with myself I am guilty in so many areas of my existence, however this must not be excused as acceptable but rather let us repent of this type of reasoning and seek out grace to lay down our lives as Christ laid down His life for the church. I will end with the words of our great Saviour, “You cannot serve God and money”.

Signing off

Tyrone