“Now listen, you rich people, weep
and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted,
and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their
corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have
hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen
who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury
and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You
have condemned and murdered innocent men who were not opposing you.”
James
5:1-6
Materialism
is a form of idolatry. It is a spiritual issue that has caused many today to be
enslaved by the very things they “had to have.” Their lives are dictated and
centered on the need to make money in order to pay for the things that they
possess. Money has become their master:
“No one 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 (mammon)!”
Matthew
6:24
How do we
fall into the trap of serving money? It begins when we believe that attaining
wealth is the only path to prosperity. By doing this we to put a “high value”
on money and possessions. We begin to trust in it. We deceive ourselves into
believing that not only can it (wealth) purchase me tangible items, but we
start to believe it can secure the intangible too. We begin to believe things
like wealth can give me happiness; wealth will bring me peace; wealth will
bring me security; wealth will give me confidence; or even wealth will secure
my salvation.
Possessing
wealth was a huge concern for Jesus! He spoke often about it, because He
understood its potential dangers. He told his disciples in Matthew 19:23:
“I tell you the truth; it is hard for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel
to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God.”
This
astonished His disciples because they had been taught in their culture that
prosperity was a sign of God’s blessing and poverty a sign of His displeasure.
It caused the rich young ruler, Jesus was speaking to, to walk away sad,
because he possessed great wealth. Wealth that he was unwilling to let go of…making
me wonder “Who possessed who?”
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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