ON THE NARROW PATH
Carey Madding
Today's Scripture: ““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, ESV
Theme: While money is important and managing it is crucial, money cannot become your priority or “god.”
IN THE DITCH
When we mess up, we are often on either side of the straight and narrow path, in the ditch. We can be totally immoral, or overly religious and pharisaical. We can use the freedom we have in Christ to live an ungodly life, or we can stay bound in the Law that Jesus died to release us from. We can cling to mercy for all and ignore justice--or do the exact opposite. Our relationship with money is no different.
When you are struggling to make your rental or mortgage payment, meet your obligations, and feed your family, money becomes all important. You work all day to get it. You worry all night about how to make ends meet. Your entire focus is on how to get more money and meet your needs.
In the same way, when you are making lots of money, you can choose to bask in it, spending and flaunting it to prove something to others. It consumes your thoughts: how to get more of it and how to maintain and increase it. It can become a source of pride and the outward symbol of “who you are.”
WHO IS YOUR GOD?
If your focus is on money--on either side of the ditch--you are distracted from the One True God. You may feel that only the rich worship money and forget God. But the truth is that when you are in financial desperation, it seems as though money will make everything perfect. It becomes your “savior” and your god.
So how do you keep money from becoming your idol? Focus on the Lord Your God. If you are struggling, remember that He is the One Who has given you wealth or the ability to make wealth. He is the One Who has promised to meet Your needs. With thanksgiving, dedicate any income you earn to Him. Acknowledge that ALL of it belongs to Him, then give Him the tithe which He has asked you to bring. When you return that tiny portion to Him in faith, it is an offering, showing that you trust Him to provide.
If you have more than you ever dreamed, keep talking to God! Keep thanking Him and asking Him how you can use His money for good, above and beyond the tithe. Keep your heart and eyes open and your grip on the purse strings loose. Remember that God continues to bless those who bless others. First and foremost, with your resources, your time, your whole being, live rightly and justly before Him, focusing on His commandments to care for the less fortunate in your sphere of influence.
Make It Personal: We have all been in times of famine and plenty. We have trusted ourselves to get ourselves out of a pickle, rather than trusting God. And we have spent God’s money as if it were ours, without any thought to His desires, when we had times of plenty. Where are you right now? What is God saying to you about getting out of the ditch and managing your money with His priorities in mind?
Pray: God, You have been so very gracious to me. You feed and clothe; You house and heal. Thank You Lord, for the many ways You provide for my needs and even some of my wants. Help me to look to You, the Giver of all good gifts. Help me use Your money—the money which You have entrusted to me—to bring about Your kingdom, justice, and provision for those around me, near and across the globe. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Read: Proverbs 3:9-10; Deuteronomy 8:11-18; Habakkuk 3:17-19; Malachi 3:8-10
Weekly Memory Verse: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1, ESV