SEX AND MONEY!
Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed be kept pure, for God will judge the adulterers and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’ (Heb. 13: 4-6).
Sex and money! Doesn’t the ungodly world revolve around sex and money? God has set the boundaries around which these two things are to be used for our blessing and benefit, and for His glory. When we stay within the boundaries, we enjoy God’s favour and blessing and both work for us as they should.
The problem is that human beings have said, “We don’t like your boundaries, God. They are too restrictive, so we’ll make our own rules.” However, our rules are – no rules. As far as sex and money are concerned, anything goes. The Hebrew concept of hell is a place with no boundaries. By casting off God’s restraints and refusing to believe that there are consequences until it’s too late, the human race has created its own hell on earth.
As bad as that is, what is worse is that the church, to a large extent, has followed suit. Church leaders, and prominent ones at that, rationalise sin away as though God’s standards are equal to “situation ethics” – whatever feels right to you is right. What passes for “love” is the excuse for every kind of sexual promiscuity and perversity. Homosexuality, for example, is condoned and excused because people of the same sex “love each other.” “Falling out of love” is a perfectly good reason for adultery and divorce, and pastors very often lead the way. As for fornication among the youth, well . . .
What passes for “God’s blessing” is a cover up for greed and even extortion within the church. How did we get to the place where we buy God’s miracles by being given the guarantee that, if we “sow into” so-and-so’s ministry, God will do what we want? The tragedy is that gullible, uninformed so-called “believers” swallow the bait and line the pockets of unscrupulous big-name preachers so that they can enjoy the hard-earned money of those they deceive. Guilt is the whip these “spiritual” leaders use to drive the people “in the name of the Lord.”
And what of what I call “charismatic shopping”! “For a gift of x amount or more (note the “or more” bit!), you can have this book, or CD, or DVD” or whatever is on offer. Have you ever! Imagine going into a shop and seeing the price of an article stated this way: “For a gift of . . . you can have this . . .” Isn’t is the same thing?
Satan, under the guise of promiscuous or perverted sex and greed, has staked his claim to be Lord, and laughs at those who follow him. He knows very well where he is leading them. He gets them exactly where he wants them, enslaved to sin and in line for God’s judgment. He knows he is heading for the lake of fire and he is determined to take as many with him as he can. He dangles the carrot of pleasure and gratification in front of the unsuspecting until they are hooked and then he laughs in their faces.
What should our attitude be to these two most powerful forces in the world – sex and money? God has set His boundaries – and our response should be to obey. The surprising thing is that, when we do, we enjoy more pleasure and gratification than all the pleasure people seek who do it by bending the rules. God is smart. He knows why we were made, how we were made and what works for us. He ought to, since He is our Creator, with apologies to the “big bang” people.
His rules are simple. Rule number one: You can have all the sex you want, within the boundaries of monogamous marriage and a faithful and loyal relationship. Rule number two: You can have all the money you want as long as you work for it and use it to serve you, your family and those who are in need. Money is a good servant but a bad master.
Within these boundaries you will live in and promote peace in your family and wherever you can be of help to others. Unity in marriage is a reflection of the oneness within the godhead. Generosity with your money and possessions is a reflection of the generosity of our God who gave His only Son to save us from perishing in our sin. Our best and only response to love like that is to do what He tells us because He knows that it works.
A wise person, according to the Scriptures, is one who does what works. A fool is one who knows that what he does, does not work but he does it anyway. He does the same thing over and over again but expects a different outcome. How dumb is that! For us as human beings made in the image of God, there is only one thing that works – obedience to God’s instructions.
So why buck the system? You will not hurt God but you will certainly hurt yourself.
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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