1. The Choice of God or mammon as
our master
Jesus
unequivocally said; “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the
one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Mathew 6:24).
Mammon
in biblical terms refers to riches, the acquisition of material wealth or the
idolatry of material riches. This takes effect when one places material things before
God and by not being faithful with the unrighteous mammon as explained by Jesus
Christ when He said; “For the sons of this world are shrewder in their
generation than the sons of light.
"And
I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you
fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. He who is faithful in what
is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is
unjust also in much: Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the
unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you
have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your
own? "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and mammon" (Luke 16:9-13).
The
admonition therefore is, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to
be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives
us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good
works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good
foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1Timothy
6:17-19).
And
so in short, we are not to place riches before God and if we manage to be rich
our duty is to be ready to give, willing to share with the less fortunate among
us. So the question is, are we placing wealth and riches before obedience to the law of God?
No comments:
Post a Comment