2007-08-03
Good Morning God's Treasures,
When we normally think of treasure, we think of money, jewels, etc.-material things. Yet I rightly referred to you in the greeting as "God's Treasures." That's because real treasure is something that transcends the grave, and a believing soul is indeed "God's Treasure." I could have just as easily said "Fellow Believers," and it would have meant the same thing. The name of this segment of True Faith devotions is "Mammon," a word that might confuse people not familiar with it. Mammon is defined as "riches or material wealth." While there have been prior messages on materialism, it is still necessary to bring it up again in the context of the Sermon on the Mount words of Christ in MT 6: 24, "No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon."
In LK 16: 9-12, Jesus takes a very practical approach in illuminating MT 6: 24 in His Parable of the Shrewd Manager. "...And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home. Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?" Then, MT 6: 24 is repeated in LK 16: 13. From all of this, Christ's lesson is clear: one must be honest and wise in his dealing with mammon while on earth to be accepted into heaven when the time comes.
James Boice, in his book The Sermon on the Mount, explains that as time went on, the meaning of mammon shifted from "that which is entrusted" which is passive to "that in which trust is placed," which is active. The connotation became negative, suggesting that mammon is one kind of idol in people's lives. All too often, that is what it is today. The nature of mammon, be it money or other material wealth, is that acquiring it becomes a primary motivator, rather than godly principles of wise stewardship and moral integrity in its handling. Micah's words come to mind, in MICAH 6: 8, "He has showed you, O Man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Dwight Pentecost writes, "The Lord condemned being possessed by wealth, not having it." This issue of integrity has been addressed clearly as early as in the OT. PS 24: 3-6, "Who has the right to go up the Lord's hill? Who may enter His holy temple? Those who are pure in act and thought, who do not worship idols or make false promises. The Lord will bless them and save them; God will declare them innocent. Such are the people who come to God, who come into the presence of the God of Jacob." We are not promised that being honest is easy. That is why in the Parable of the Rich Man, Christ, in MT 19: 24, states, "It is much harder for a rich man to get to heaven than for a camel pass through the eye of a needle."
I can relate the experience of someone I know. This lady's husband was possessed by the desire to acquire money. He was good at buying and selling on the stock market and did that. Neither of them spent any time in their lives opening their hearts to the Holy Spirit. The man passed away without faith, and his widow remains with the same mammon-driven heart-attitude. While she may be living comfortably on earth, her chances of going to the Lord in heaven are not good. I pray every day for this widow, hoping that somehow she will change her way of thinking and gain salvation and peace through faith in the Lord. My prayer conforms to IS 55: 6-7, "Turn to the Lord and pray to Him now that He is near. Let the wicked leave their way of living and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the Lord, our God. He is merciful and quick to forgive." This is a prayer we should all offer for anyone who is unsaved. Since this widow is quite elderly, both she and I are running out of time for this prayer to be answered. Anyone who believes as I do in Jesus Christ, knows the gifts that faith in Him bring. First there is salvation, followed by justification, forgiveness, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and countless other blessings [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; HE 8: 12: HE 10: 10]. How can we ever forget that the same Lord Who tells us we can't serve two masters is the One Who suffered and died on the cross, so that we could have the chance to decide to believe, be freed from slavery to sin, and eventually be called home to a blissful life of sweet eternal fellowship with the Father?
There are times when God has hard lessons for us. One such lesson came to Peter and I beginning in '98 as a part of the business trend of "down-sizing." Over the last 9 years we have had to adjust to living on much less materially than we had before. God was humbling us and demonstrating the truth of PS 37: 11, "But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace." Truthfully, Peter handled this situation with more grace than I did. It took all these years for me to finally come to peace with the fact that God has different dreams for us to fulfill than the ones we originally had. I leave you with the message that He really will give those who honor Him inward peace. PS 62: 5, "Only God gives inward peace, and I depend on Him." We must think about how this applies in our lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your throne with our need to grapple with the temptation to be materialistic and make mammon our idol verses Your teaching in MT 6: 24. In today's North America, this is not easy for us, and we need Your help. You are a gracious God Who listens to the prayerful pleas of Your children. We believe You when You say, in PS 46 :1, "God is our Shelter and our Strength, always ready to help in times of trouble." We bow before You to ask not only for Your direction and help in being wise and moral stewards of the material things we have as individuals, but also for the ability to make difficult decisions concerning it as a part of our congregations. You have told us in PS 50: 15, "Pray to Me in time of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor Me." Dearest Abba, we do honor and praise You for being the loving, wise, and compassionate God you are. Even though we were once Your enemies, You invited us to come to faith and be both Your servants and Your friends [RO 5: 9-11]. We can rely on You, hanging on Your words in PS 37: 23-24. "The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." We ask You to hold our hands now, to keep us close to You, and to guide us through all the snares set in our paths by the evil one. You have told us, in PS 55: 22, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be defeated." We cast our burdens concerning mammon on You now. On bended knee, we offer You our reverence, worship, willingness to take direction from You, praise for who You are, and thanks for what You do. You are the only Source of goodness on this earth, and we thank You for it. We offer up this prayer in the mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, I'm led to begin writing about Christ's words in MT 6: 25-34, which discuss worrying about basic necessities, how mammon relates to the Kingdom of God, and worrying about the future. Most of us have had to deal with the temptations to give into the adversary's fiery arrows shot at us in this area. Our Lord weighs in on these pressing concerns, giving us focus and direction on God's will for us. As believers we are all eager to have the Lord come again [RO 8: 19; 1 THESS 4: 13-17]. That eagerness was express by the Psalmist in PS 42: 1-2, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and stand before Him?" God alone, not even the Son, knows the exact day and time [MT 24: 36] when this will happen. Even so, the promise has been made by Him that there will be a rapture of believers, and He never lies. In the meanwhile, we can pray to Him for His direction, knowing He hears our prayers and will answer them [PS 116: 1]. PS 25: 4-5, "Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day." Rest in this wonderful Sermon on the Mount message: MT 5: 3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the Kingdom of Heaven." Those who know they need God's intervention in their lives to be righteous, will live righteously on earth and inherit the Kingdom along with the Lord Jesus. Rest assured in the truth of PS 29:11, "He will give His people strength. He will bless them with peace." Hallelujah!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn