Matthew 6:19-24
Decisions
ACTUALLY, decisions are greatly influenced by desires. The reality is what’s done cannot be undone. Wrong choices will hurt us, the people we love and the people who love us! Corrupt, complicated desires result in corrupt and complicated choices...these reap long-term and sometimes life-long consequences. The heart only waits for the opportunity to translate it to action!
The greed nurtured in the heart is a credible preview of the choices made. “Do not love the world or the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world only offers a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” (1st John 2:15-17)
Destiny
Our earthly and heavenly destinies are shaped by our present choices. There is wisdom in the saying “your destiny is now”. To desire money over God will show in the decisions made, and decisions made shape the pathway of your destiny. Greedy choices are seeds of sorrows we plant today and reap the next day. Financial decisions are spiritual decisions that have eternal consequences. When people are sold out to greed, they make undiscerning, unwise choices that petrify into a lifestyle of numbness and ingrown greed, never enjoying true friendship, unwilling to sacrifice for others, lonely, and void of fun-filled memories.
“O God, I beg two favors from you: let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.” (Proverbs 30:7-9)
Let me end with these suggested prayers, I hope they will be your prayers too:
Abba, I accept that I am not exempted from loving money. I confess that I have loved money more than you. Lord Jesus, have mercy and deliver me from this spiritual adultery. Hear our prayers, Oh Lord
Abba, let the Holy Spirit convict and demolish all my rationalizations about the issue of having divided loyalties. Help me choose devotion to Christ more than money
Lord, hear our prayers.
Abba, I made up my mind to surrender to your call of simplicity and godly contentment.
I recant my running in the race of the greedy. I choose to bow down to you.
Let the sight, sound and smell of money be no longer the focus of my senses. Lord, from the greed within me, deliver me. Amen