Matthew 6:24 NIV
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
So, in one of Jesus’ teachings about money, its use and abuse, which we examined yesterday, His second principle gets to the heart of the matter…you will serve who or what you love! It’s as simple as that!
In order to determine where your love lies, you will need to take the long look. It all depends on in which direction you are looking when you make decisions and choices about the use of your money.
Jesus used a colourful and commonly-understood word picture to explain what He meant. Just as one’s physical eyes allow light to enter the body to see, or dysfunctional eyes prevent the body from seeing, so one’s spiritual vision depends on the “light” that enters or doesn’t enter the heart.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Matthew 6:22-23 NIV
What “light” would Jesus be referring to, do you think?
In the Bible, “light” often refers to God’s Word. For example…
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
Psalms 119:105 NIV
…and…
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
Psalms 119:130 NIV
If we add verses like these to the mix, we begin to understand that, when we allow the light of God’s Word to enter us through our our spiritual “eyes”, we will view life and our attitude towards people and our money from God’s perspective. If we are blind to the needs of others, we will hoard and use our resources for ourselves. If we see, through Jesus’ eyes, the opportunity to share our resources with others in need, and we do so because we love Him, it become clear whom we serve because of whom we love.
Paul takes these principles and weaves them into an instruction to Timothy. In a world corrupted by greed and the love of money, Paul urges Timothy to understand and teach the truth about the use of money and wealth. Some of God’s people were already entangled in the powerful pull of money, drawing them away from loving God to a life of greed and eventual destruction.
“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.”
1 Timothy 6:3-5 NIV
How many, in our day, have fallen into this trap! The “prosperity gospel” is a case in point… a corruption of the truth.
There is a philosophy that God’s people need to embrace…
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”
…and a warning…
“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 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.”
1 Timothy 6:6-7, 9-10 NIV
Therefore, Timothy, and all God’s servants, tying together the teachings of Jesus, must…
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV