The
rich young ruler asked Jesus; what did he need to do to have eternal
life. He named off all the things that he was doing already as a young
man. But Jesus said if thou will be perfect, go and sell that thou have,
and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the
young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then Jesus
said unto his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter
into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19:20-23. That scripture reminds me of what Jesus
said in Matthew 13:22. He also
said that received seed among thorns is he that hears the word; and the care of
this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word and he becometh
unfruitful. I believe the young man worshipped his wealth which, to
me is another form of idolatry. He didn’t want to part with it and go and
follow Jesus. That is what has taken over today in our world.
People have set up idols in their lives; money and wealth being the most
common. The world has become full of idolatry, the thing we have to do is
find out why and what the enemy is using.
Personally,
I believe the devil is using covetousness to lure people in. If you covet
worldly things or you are greedy for riches then watch out, the enemy is headed
straight toward you. Remember, he tempted our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ with riches, wealth and kingdoms. Praise God he didn’t have any
lust for nothing of this world in him. Jesus said the prince of this
world (satan) comes and have nothing in me. John 14:30 Everything we see on television is heavily filled
with lustful desires; all of it is for people to sow to themselves. That
is why the devil blasts us with these things all day long. It’s because he wants you to covet them; the
food, the cars, the houses, the shoes, and the clothes. He wants you to
covet the money, the degree to earn the money, the women, the Viagra to please
the women, and the list just goes on and on. That is why he uses celebrities
to promote the stuff in order to entice us to lust after it. To defeat
him we must resist him and deny ourselves. God clearly told Israel
not to covet anything of thy neighbors in Exodus
20:15. Jesus says to the disciple, take heed and beware of
covetousness, a man’s life consist not in the abundance of things which he
possess. Luke 12:15 Furthermore,
Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:5,
for this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man
who is an idolater, have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and
God. And he said it again in Colossians
3:5.
Now, please understand, I am not saying that rich or wealthy people will not
make it to heaven. I am saying that Jesus said it will be
hard. The most disturbing thing to me is that people who go to
church, know the word, and confess that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior
will hear this and be offended. I know we need money and worldly goods
for the times we are living in. Of course; rent, car notes, mortgages,
insurance, etc; must be paid. Just don’t
make money your god and don’t idolize it. Everyone has been around people
who judge others by the world’s economic classifications. Even fake
church people participate in judging their brethren, some obvious and some by
secrecy. For example; my wife and I was headed to service one Sunday; on
the way we stopped by our county’s trash dump to drop off our trash. I
saw a guy I went to high school with. I said, “Hello big man how have you
been? It’s good to see you! It’s been 16 years since I saw you last.”
The first thing he said was, “What are you doing to get down for yours?”
That means he asked me how do I earn my living; for those who may not
understand street language. I froze; could not form any words to
give a reply. Obviously, to him I appeared to have money or a nice
vehicle. I think because he was driving the trash truck he felt the need
to ask me where I worked. In my head I screamed, “Lord this is what’s
wrong with a lot of people! Their minds are on material possessions that
they have or someone else has!” By this time a reply formed in my mind
and I simply stated to him that I make an honest living just like
him. I handed him a card and told him to call me if he wants to come
over sometime and fellowship, read and discuss the bible. If how you are
living is pleasing to God then what is it to me? God is not a respecter
of persons. If your work is honest in his eyes, then who cares?
The devil wants you to care; he wants you to see how your neighbor is
living. The devil wants you to covet all the day long, so eventually you
seek him to become rich. That is why every song, every commercial is
about “my this” and “my that”. He wants you to be caught up into
yourselves. Jesus said seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and
all these things shall be added unto you Matthew 6:33. The problem with this is people missed the
first part of that scripture and seems to have only heard “added unto you”!
It is some church people who really don’t believe that God is our
provider. I know that because you see them outside the stores scratching
off lotto tickets trying to hit it big before they go to church. Let’s
keep it real people, if you are poor and playing the lottery, you are not only
putting money into the government’s pockets, but actually denying God.
What makes people think when they become rich they are going to give God the
glory? Man, I no longer care about stuff! It doesn’t matter to me! People think
others are blessed because they see the things they own. But don’t stop
to think of the hell folks have in their lives. And you don’t know the
(god) they serve either. My dad always taught me to be thankful for what
we have and to stop worrying about what others have. He also told me to
help others that were less fortunate than us. Now that I am older I
understand what my dad was teaching us and also understand what Jesus Christ
was saying too. Both of them were talking about covetousness; looking
upon your neighbor, wondering about what they have and how they got it.
We
can get more accomplished as saints if we focus on the ministry of
Christ. Let’s get people to Christ and get them saved! Let us deny
all of this worldly lust and fashion ourselves accordingly in Christ
Jesus. Let’s stop wondering about the things our neighbors have in their
possessions. Instead, let’s pray for one another and uplift each other.
Above all deny the devil and give God his due honor and praise!
As Always
It. Is.
Written.
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