I’m writing this because I have time to write this. For the first time in quite some time, I’m alone in the evening in front of my laptop. It’s a thick and wide Dell laptop…nothing like the nimble Macbook Airs. It’s my work laptop. It’s heavy…like a tank.
As I write this I’m thinking about all the violence in the world. Paris. Brussels. The United States. I’m thinking about all the division and conflict in the world. Politics. Religion. Money.
The Bible says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). That’s a pretty big statement. The Bible makes a lot of strong statements.
Like the Ten Commandments:
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make idols.
- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- You shall not covet.
The last commandment is “You shall not covet.” To covet means to yearn to posess or have something. There are many things I could covet: My neighbor’s this. My neighbor’s that.
My neighbor’s…money.
If the love of money is the root of all evil, then I think it’s pretty important to know whether or not you love money. Jesus said the following about loving money:
“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
I like to think I serve God. I go to church. I listen to the Word. The Word impacts my life.
So, I ask myself, what does my life say? What does my life preach? Does it preach Christ? Am I preaching Christ? Or, is my life silent or preaching something other than Christ?
Do I fear man or do I fear God?
Do I fear that if I preach Christ (when asked what I believe)…that I will lose my job…which is the natural source of my money?
Is the source of my money MY JOB…
…or is it GOD?
I believe a wise person would point out God as our ultimate source.
God gives us jobs for a purpose, including providing for ourselves and our families. We must be careful not to foolishly cut off his means of provision in our lives.
God has provision for us, and it has a purpose.
Question is…what is the purpose God has for us?
Is our purpose and money about us…or is it about God and giving Him glory?
God is glorified when He is exalted above all other things.
In Matthew 6:24, which I referenced above, the original Greek word for the phrase” he will hate” is the word “misesei”, stemming from the root word “miseo”. It properly means “to detest” – on a comparative basis. It means to love something so much less than something else that you actually detest it in comparison. It’s a word that paints a large contrast between your devotion to one thing versus your devotion to another.
It’s the same word that used in Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (miseo, ‘love less’ than the Lord) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple”
There are many things we may love in this life: Our money, careers, possessions, lifestyles, parents, spouse, children, siblings, etc. God wants us to love Him so much more than all these things that we “miseo” them in comparison.
If we do not do this, we cannot be His disciple.
If we cannot be His disciple, we cannot follow Him and please Him.
Without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
What pleases God is that we put our faith in Him and be His disciple.
Re: discipleship, it’s interesting that the Bible doesn’t say that the love of family is the root of all evil. We know that we are to love our families. We are to minister to and serve our families.
So, I ask, “What does it look like to minister to and serve money (as Jesus alluded to in Matthew 6:24)? If you can serve money, what does that look like?
If I serve money, it must have desires. It must have a voice. It must be calling me to serve it in some way. So, I ask, is money (which is physical) calling me? Or is there something else actually happening behind the scenes?
Could it be that Satan, the “god of this age” and of this physical realm – “who has blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 4:4) – is the one who is actually calling us to serve money? After all, money is physical and temporal, and this physical realm is under Satan’s dominion (thus why he’s called in 2 Cor. 4:4 “the god of this age”).
I believe that Satan is evil and must be at work in “the root of all evil”.
I believe Satan uses the love of money, something physical and temporal, to draw many away from the Spiritual and eternal blessings that are found in Jesus Christ.
He did it with Judas. I’m praying that Satan will not do it with us.
Satan is calling us (and deceiving us) to love and serve him and His purposes. God is calling us (and enlightening us) to love and serve Him and His purposes. Can we discern the voices well enough to choose our path wisely?
By God’s grace and mercy, our eyes are opened and we become wise to discern good and evil (Genesis 3:5).
Satan – the thief – comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. – John 10:10.
Satan has some dominion in this world, but God has greater dominion over him and this world.
Thus why the Bible says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” – 1 John 2:15-17.
May we heed God’s call and do His will. May we serve Him and Him alone.
God is jealous God. He wants our complete worship.
He is also incredibly gracious and merciful.
Where sin abounds, much grace abounds.
We are not under the law, but under grace.
God has given us grace to…overcome the lies of Satan, and…
…live the abundant life.
He Breathes Life 