SCRIPTURE
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
Hebrews 13:5-6
OBSERVATION
The writer of Hebrews has a great sense of urgency to pass down to his readers the most important values of a fully devoted follower of Christ. Among them he points out sexual purity, hospitality, generosity, justice, and mercy. And also he has a warning about greed and loving money. He accurately describes lack of contentment as a dangerous root in our lives because ultimately steals away our trust in God's love, provision, and protection.
I recently heard Chris Rock, a well known celebrity, confessing how Americans worship money because of what it has to offer in this world. We live in a money loving society that even though has enough and more than everyone else, still is not satisfied and craves for more. If we are not careful, such mindset can invade the heart of a follower of Christ and cause him/her to have divided loyalties. Jesus said that we cannot have two masters. We cannot serve God and money. We must make a choice almost in a daily basis. And if we choose to love God above money, then we will grow trusting more and more in his provision, protection, and plan for our lives.
APPLICATION.
Currently I'm looking at the future of my family and the church. In both fields I see the potential for a greater blessing. At home, even though we have more than enough, we are looking to buy a house and we are very excited about it. However, we also must be cautious about it. Our heart is deceitful and very easy we could become ungrateful and greedy. We want to remain faithful to God and to our calling to be servants and spiritual leaders with integrity. We want to keep an above reproach lifestyle and a sense of authority when it comes to live simple lives for the sake of the gospel.
With the church we are facing a great opportunity to have more and to do more for the kingdom of God. And it's very easy to allow greed and pride to creep in. I want to lead our church in faith for great things to happen without being pretentious and arrogant. We don't want to trust in our abilities, or past experiences. We want to simply trust God and follow His direction. We want to dream for better things without being ungrateful about the current things. And by God's grace, we will have such heart coming into those important decisions.
PRAYER
Dear heavenly Father, please give me a pure heart as I approach important decisions about my family and about your church. Please reveal any trace of ingratitude and greed in our hearts so we can get rid off it and walk into this season with a clean heart. We want to walk into better things not because we are unhappy, but because we are following you. We are happy with what you have given us, but if it's your will to have more, give me wisdom about how to walk into it and also give me grace to receive with humility what you have prepared for us. I love you more than anything!
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