You Can’t Serve God and Money
The Bible tells an interesting story of the encounter of a young man with Jesus. This was the kind of man, young women from my country would call a ‘thousand yards of husband material’, or well at least I would (wink). In the lenses of the millennial, he would be the God-fearing catch no gold-digger could deceive. He treated his mother like a queen, his little sister like a princess, and had the respect for his father that made him a darling boy. The old ladies on the block loved him for always offering to carry their groceries and driving them to their appointments. He was the tutor of the orphans and his boys’ most trusted friend. Having worked hard his whole life, burning the midnight candle to land the six-figure job that made him a millionaire in 10 years, we might be able to understand his indignation at Jesus’ response to his question that night. His question: “How can I inherit eternal life?”. Jesus’ response — after being informed the young man had followed the commandments all his life — “Go sell all you have, give it to the poor and come follow me.”
I remember reading this story once and thinking, “What does Jesus have against people being rich?”. First, he chooses to be born in an animal barn of all places and now this. When we read through to the end of the chapter (Matthew 19) where this story is found however, we discover that on the contrary, the young man would have received a hundredfold everything he gave up if he had listened to Jesus.
Matthew 19: 29 — And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Talk about being a kingdom trillionaire! Jesus had nothing against him being rich or wealthy. His plan was not to take the good things of life away from him but to break the attachment the young man had to them. Apostle Joel of Dag Heward Mills Ministries put it this way, it’s like having a child who is addicted to playing video games. To help them break the addiction you limit their access to the games, not necessarily because the games in themselves are a bad thing but because their attachment to them is not healthy. Once you realize they are no longer hooked, you will willingly lift the limitations knowing they won’t abuse their access to them anymore. Perhaps for some of us, God has limited our access to certain levels of wealth because of the effect wealth has on us. Until we are cured of the want of money, we may never enter certain levels of prosperity for our own good.
For the rich young man, the question was more of whether eternal life with God meant more to him than his earthly riches. It was an issue of what the driving factor of his life was. Was it really God or was it money? To be honest there have been several moments in my life when the answer to this question would have brought Jesus to tears. I can count on my fingers the number of times I have missed church in my over 20 years on earth and in general just like this man, I believe that people would call me a good person, but how many times have I taken decisions based on how much better my bank account would look instead of first asking, “Is this something God wants me to do”? How many times have I been anxious about my needs being met, shoving under every carpet, the many scriptures I’ve learnt about not worrying, just because the money indicator was blinking red? On the outside, maybe no one would doubt that I’m a Christian but if my decision making is not based on what God’s will for my life is, can I really call myself one? Is Jesus really LORD of my life? These questions help us understand Matthew 6:24.
Matthew 6:24 — No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
There is only one seat and one driver in our individual lives, determining the moves we make, the decisions we take and the paths our lives chart. So, let’s be honest with ourselves, is God the driver or is it really money? Maybe God is in the front alright, but not the one with hands on the wheel. He sits in the passenger seat and occasionally grabs the steer when we are headed into a ditch. I think the first step to getting it right on this topic is admitting we may have been wrong. A litmus test for figuring out where we are is Matthew 6:33.
Matthew 6:33 — But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Would you say God and His kingdom are always priority? If yes, great job, keep putting Him first and if no, great that you are honest enough to admit it. Even better news is, the fact that God woke you up today means He is giving you an opportunity to change that. Start with a prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to help you put God first in every moment, in every decision, in every circumstance and in every day. Won’t He do it?
How about if you don’t have a relationship with God at all? Well let’s fix that now. Say this prayer, “God, I thank you for the gift of your son Jesus, I believe in His power to save me from my sins, and I accept Him into my life today.” Welcome to the kingdom of God’s people! Find a Bible believing family to join today and dm me @serwa_hemaa on Instagram or Twitter if you have questions on your new journey. I may not have all the answers, but I’ll be happy to help you find them.
May God help us all to choose Him every day. Amen!
