Be Careful...Don't Let Money Become Your Master

 

 

Ezekiel 7:17-19 -  Every hand will go limp, and every knee will become as weak as water. They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Their faces will be covered with shame and their heads will be shaved.  They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the LORD's wrath. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, for it has made them stumble into sin.  

 

The end of Jerusalem was not a pretty time for these people.  It held death…famine….army raids that took many to unknown places as slaves. The remnant that remained had to flee to the mountains and hide. No amount of money or gold would help them there…they would have to let God sustain them.

 

The people had let their love of money make the decisions of their heart.  It led them to vanity…idol worship… and many other evil practices that kept them from God. God allowed Timothy to record much the same thought in 1 Timothy 6:10.  He said… “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

 

I admit my guilt….it is so easy to get caught up in the money trap.  We think we need new stuff….our kids need the best toys and clothes that we didn’t have….so we use that credit card that already had too high a balance. We justify going into debt for newer cars and bigger houses…without noticing that we are straying further and further from God’s purpose as we collect things around us.

 

It is possible to get back on the right path…but it will take some control and prayer.  That huge debt you have mounted can disappear if you make decisions to give up some of those ‘things’…and use the money you would have spent to pay off those bills. I gave up TV a few years back….and decided to pay off my school loans instead of just paying minimums each month. I still struggle with shopping…but I know I have made progress in that area as well. 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I have everything I need in you. Forgive me for the times that I have let money fill my need for things.  Help me to keep focused on you so that you can help me make the right decisions involving money. Help me to use what money you bless me with to help others.  Amen.