SERVING TWO MASTERS

'No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.'
-Jesus (Matt. 6:24)

'The church doesn’t want something from you; the church wants something better for you.'
-Perry Noble


When was the last time you went to the fridge...looked inside of it and said 'there's nothing to eat'? When was the last time you went to your closet and said 'there's nothing to wear'? When was the last time you went to Best Buy and saw the coolest flat panel tv...starred at it, maybe drooled a little bit, and thought to yourself, I NEED it?

I'm continuing on with my thoughts on Perry Noble's series on the '5 Lies of the Devil'  and you can watch the message he gives by clicking on the link. Anyway, tell me if the above didn't ressonate with you on some level? I'm sure the Best Buy one clicked more for the guys than the girls, but I don't want to assume anything...

The main scripture he focus' on is from 2nd Kings 4: 1-7 (please open your Bible). It's about a widow who comes to Elisha asking for help because her husband is dead and his creditors are about to come and claim their children as payment. Interestingly enough, the title of this section in the Bible is usally titled 'Elisha helps a poor woman'...or something to that affect. Now, today we still have creditors and if we're unable to pay, they come to collect-make phone calls and write letters to seek payment. Back in Biblical times, they took your children or family as payment (check out Matt. 18:23-34). Today...if we continue our current path our children will pay for our mistakes-our debt.

Anyway, the nuts and bolts of this story is more about the 'irrational jumps' you and I make concerning our God. For example: when you become a part of a church body, you assume that the church wants your money-often forgetting that they don't want you money, they want something better for you in this life. Too often we associate the church and money in a negative way, when really it's not about the church, it's about our worship of God.

ARE YOU AND I BEING GOOD STEWARDS OF WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US?

Again, it isn't about the church wanting your money it's more about whether or not you're following Jesus with your money. And the real issue is whether or not you can be trusted with what God has already provided you (Luke 16: 10-14). Let me be the first to admit that I too haven't fully followed Jesus with my money...I've usually had the philosophy that since I don't have much money anyway (life in unordained ministry-like a youth pastor), the giving of my time and energy in other areas makes up for my lack of financial commitment. I am wrong and I have begun a deep converstation with my wife about some changes we need to make.

Now the question becomes...how about you?

You and I have a nasty tendency to focus on what we don't have instead of what we do have. We have overlooked God's blessings in our lives and have decided we don't have enough money, a big enough house, a new enough car, or the latest and greatest cell phone! You and I are addicted...and if we don't 'handle our desire to acquire' then we're doomed to forever be unhappy-in this life and the next.

HERE ARE TWO THINGS THAT DON'T GO TOGETHER:
I love you, but go to hell!
Jesus I love you, but keep your fingers off my money!

I guess at the heart of this is a fundamental question: Are you ever happy with what you have? Do you see the blessings in your life or do you only see what you don't have? Is your focus on this world or the next? Because the answer to many of our problems isn't whether or not God could give us more, but whether or not we can manage what God has already given us. Whatever the situation, whether it's financial or not, do you accept the situation you're in and know the way out? Sometimes it's not easy to do what needs to be done-it's always 'easier said than done', but what needs to be done is what's important.

Isn’t it amazing how we wonder or even blame God for ‘bad things’ that happen in our lives? Why is it that we don’t give Him enough credit, honor, and praise when things are going well? Why is it that we only turn to Him in the midst of our problems?

At the core of all this we need to ask ourselves this: Are we ever happy with what we have? Why do we feel the ‘need’ for more? And who placed that desire there? You and I need to stop conforming to the patterns of this world (Romans 12:1-3), stop serving the many masters of this world (money, fame, and pride) and follow the one that truly loves us-God.