1 Timothy 6:6-10
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
Eternity-Inspiration for Tuesday 17th March 1998
(1 Tim 6:6-10 NIV) But godliness with contentment is great gain.
{7} For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing
out of it. {8} But if we have food and clothing, we will be content
with that. {9} People who want to get rich fall into temptation and
a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men
into ruin and destruction. {10} 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 griefs.
Jesus called money "Mammon", "filthy lucre" and "the mammon of
unrighteousness". He was not very positive about it! Paul calls the
love of money "a root of all kinds of evil". While the Bible
certainly acknowledges that a certain level of prosperity is a
blessing it warns us against making the blessing into an idol. Money
has an irrational spiritual power that is quite amazing. At sales
where a limited number of bargains are being offered people will
queue for hours then rush in a frenzy to get the goods. In Australia
people were being seriously injured in the crushes until the practice
was banned. Money is not spiritually neutral - it fascinates us,
draws us and can master us. The only great gain is "godliness with
contentment" its not a popular option but it is the one with the big
eternal payoff.
Money becomes Lord when its dictates, demands and imperatives
outweigh those of Scripture. Would you obey God even if it meant you
would lose everything financially as the early Christians did? If a
popular interpretation of Revelation is correct we may indeed face
that choice.(Rev 13:16-18 NKJV) He causes all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand
or on their foreheads, {17} and that no one may buy or sell except
one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his
name. {18} Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate
the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is
666.
The desire to get rich draws many productive people away from
Christian service. Many Christians sense a call from God to full time
Christian service but few make it into long-term ministry because the
beginning of the road is full of financial sacrifices. I have seen
many people that I thought had deep calls of God on their life turn
away from the ministry to a more financially lucrative career. Most
remain Christians but some fall away entirely. Then there are those
Christians beset with financial troubles who get captured by
multi-level marketing schemes or other forms of greed that turn out
to be time-consuming and tyrannical. Many of these do fall away -
piercing themselves with many pangs.
Money must never be a Master or a major consideration. In Matthew 6
Jesus gives a major discourse on finances. To start with Jesus
indicates three things 1) That our treasure is in heaven 2) That the
love of money can darken our soul 3)That we cannot serve both God
and money. (Mat 6:19-26 NKJV) "Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves
break in and steal; {20} "but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal. {21} "For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also. {22} "The lamp of the body is the eye. If
therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
{23} "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of
darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how
great is that darkness! {24} "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.
As the passage progresses Jesus tells us that we can rely on the
faithfulness of our Heavenly Father - and all Christians who have
tried this have found this to be so! He concludes with the well known
exhortation: "(Mat 6:33-34 NKJV) "But seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
{34} "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Money creates anxiety and the love of money means deep anxiety.
However trust in God's faithfulness brings hope and peace. We need
to trust in God not Money and we need to love God not Mammon. Paul
says "that we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing
out of it". Ultimately the lover of money loses his fickle mistress
while the lover of God abides forever.
Prayer:
O Lord purify our hearts from greed, from the love of money, from the
envy of those who are wealthy. Tell our spirits, souls and minds
about Your treasure in Heaven so much that we can almost see it and
touch it. Help us to understand what true riches are so that we can
let go of the ever present materialism within us and truly worship
You forever. Amen.
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John Edmiston ([email protected])
Editor - Eternity Online Magazine http://www.eternity-magazine.org/
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