Luke 16:13-15 (NIV)
13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.
Money often takes the place of God in people’s lives. How a person handles money indicates how much mastery money has attained in that person’s life. Jesus explained that no one can serve two masters. From a spiritual standpoint, all people will serve someone or something; here Jesus spoke of two choices, God and money. People can choose to serve money—in essence, this means serving themselves and all the pleasure and power money can buy—or they can choose to serve God. But no one can do both, for the two choices are diametrically opposed. No one can seek selfish pleasure and be able to give money away. When money is one’s master, there can be no room for God who requires single-hearted obedience and devotion.
Avoid mistaken judgments here. Many rich people are genuine, mature Christians. Wealth is not the issue. Many mature Christians work hard and expect to be paid. That’s not the issue either. Money for these people is only a means to an end. Yet some people tragically have made wealth an end in itself—the thing to serve, their god. For Christians, money is always a means of service, never an ultimate goal. Money is God’s loan to you for smart stewardship, never a measure of your real worth.
Because the Pharisees loved their money, they scoffed at Jesus’ teaching. They may not have thought that they were serving money, but their laughing at Jesus’ words shows that Jesus had touched a sensitive area. The Pharisees acted piously to get praise from others, but God knew their evil hearts. They considered their wealth to be a sign of God’s approval. God detested their wealth, however, because it caused them to abandon true spirituality. What this world honors is an abomination in the sight of God. People who focus their lives on outward appearance and impressing others serve the wrong master and therefore cannot serve God.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
Have you ever tried to work for two bosses? That's a fiasco -- trying to please two different guys at the same time. You're guaranteed an ulcer. Jesus lays it out in black and white. He is definitely not vague in this verse. He says, When it comes to money management, the heart of the problem is really a problem of the heart. It's inside. Here is what Jesus is saying:
I must choose what I will love most in life. It's a choice. You can't love two masters. Jesus says, really when you get down to it the choice is very simple because it comes down to two things. (I didn't say this; Jesus said it.) The choice really comes down to two things about what I'm going to love most -- God or money. I've got to choose what I'm going to love most in life.
The very first commandment in the Ten Commandments is "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." God wants first place. Anything that takes most of my time and most of my thought and most of my energy has a tendency to become a god. Money is a great servant; it is a lousy god. Is there any scripture in the Bible that teaches us how you can know that God has first place in your life?
Deuteronomy 14:23 (LB) says, "The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives." Tithing means ten in Hebrew -- ten percent. The principle of tithing says I give the first ten percent of everything I make back to God. Some people get hung up on that number 10%. They say it’s an old testament law and believers today are not under the law. Really? Theological that is just not accurate, but let’s pretend it is.
What’s the New Testament principle for tithing? Remember the Widow in Mark 12:41-44? What percentage did she give? Do you remember? Let’s read it. “And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”
What’s “all she had” mean? Folks, that’s 100%. So you choose. Old Testament = 10%. New Testament = 100%.What it really comes down to say is, if I'm not tithing, how can I say God's first place in my life?
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. Endure.
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