8th November 2024

8th November 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 6:19-24 focus v24)


Message (Alan Burke)


There are some people I know that what gets them out of bed in the morning is their pay packet, they live to earn as much money as they can and they love to show off all their wonderful new toys that the money gets them, the robotic lawnmower that leaves stripes on the lawn, the cars that are wroth more than my wee house. They love to have the latests tech and they make sure you know what they have is better than yours. On the other hand I know people who could buy and sell me with very little cost to themselves and you wouldn’t from the outside know it, they aren’t living for the money, it isn’t what gets them up in the morning and they don’t flaunt it because it’s not the thing that is important to them. When it comes to money it is easy for us to be captivated by it, if that is what we are devoted to then that is what we will love, that is what we will live for. On the other hand if it is God that we are devoted to then we will live for him and store up treasure in heaven no matter how much money we have on this earth. 


We cannot serve God and money, we can’t be focused on treasures in on earth while trying to store up treasures in heaven, we cannot do it. We are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” (Mk 12:30 & Deut 6:4-5).  God calls us to live for him and to love him and serve him above all things. The problem is that for all of us we can easily fall into the trap of being possessed by the possessions we have.  With God divided loyalties do not work, here the focus was on wealth, but that overflows to many aspects of our lives, jobs, relationships, possessions, when these things are put before God then we devote ourselves to that and we despise God.  


Remember that one of the disciples namely Judas was one who was motivated by earthly treasure in Matthew 27 Judas approached the chief priest and he asked the question. What are you willing to give me if I haunt him over to you?(v15) the price for his betrayal of his friend was 30 pieces of silver. (Matt 26:15-16). In the Old Testament this was the penalty paid to the owner of a slave if the slave was gored to death by an ox (Ex 21:32). Jesus was worth nothing more than the price of a dead slave to Judas and the Chief Priests, thirty pieces of silver was worth about four months wages. Well, Judas would regret what he had done if he had of heard the words of Jesus not only audibly but in his heart, if his eyes were not bad then he would never have betrayed Jesus. 


What Jesus is teaching here isn't here that we have to give up everything that we have, to withdraw from the material world rather he wants us to be orientated rightly. None of us can serve two masters if we were under two masters we would be torn and pulled in so many different directions we would end up losing our minds. It would have conflicting messages towards us for the disciples of Jesus if we live like that we cannot love money and because we'll be devoted to one and despise the other. Let us love the Lord our God above all things, for money won’t bring us security or an eternal hope but Jesus does. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q 30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
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