Luke 16:13 (NASB) No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth.
Yes, I serve wealth. I don't have any, but we can serve it just as much not having much of it as having lots of it. Many decisions I make are based on the financial situation. The following thoughts are common for me . . .
"I don't have enough money for my bills, can I really spare a couple of dollars for this person who doesn't have food?" "I could be making money doing things instead of resting even though I've worked 50 hours this week." "I don't have time to be in the Word this morning, bkz I have to get to work."
Who does the providing? Me or God? In case you missed those multiple passages of Scripture, God is the one who provides, not me. But again . . . I make it about me. If I don't do it, it won't get done. The pride surfaces in yet another unique way.
Look at the 3 quotations above. In the first one, it is more important for me to take care of me instead of taking care of the need that God has presented to me to love someone else. Interestingly enough, I have plenty of food, I could even afford to go without some food, but my bills are more important than this person's life. In the second one, it is about not taking care of my body and insisting that I am the one who should be making the money instead of God. In the third one, I'm prioritizing making money, or my priorities, over God and my relationship with Him.
He tells us that the greatest commandments are to love Him with all of our being & love our neighbor as ourselves. I see the exact opposite in those quotes.
So who are you really serving? God or money (or something else).
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