Faithful in the Least

 

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” – Luke 16:10-13

If there ever was something that could be labeled as a “necessary evil”, I believe it would be loving money.  I’m not talking about just the green and silver stuff, but riches in general. 

We are taught our whole lives to earn and earn much!  Our school years are spent learning more so we can gain great employment, and our career years are spent desiring promotions and increases in pay and bonuses.  We desire it because the world judges us as successful when we achieve great wealth.  Yet, God says that loving money and wealth is evil, and brings sorrow.

If you allow yourself to love money, you set yourself up for trouble.  We are to love and serve God, who in turn provides for us out of His great wealth (Philippians 4:19).  When we love money, it becomes our ruler – our Lord.  We start to desire more of it, put our time into earning it, keeping it, investing it, and worrying about it.  If we continue down that path long enough we will find that we have lost the peace and abundant life God desires to give us.  Money has a way of gobbling up your peace if you let it.

Those that love money will worship it and respect it over the ways and will of God, making them…to put it as God put it…evil.  1 Timothy 6:10 says “the LOVE OF MONEY is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows”.  Having money doesn’t make you evil, but loving it does.

I like how Timothy carefully points out that loving money is straying from faith.  When we begin to concentrate our hearts and minds on money, we lose focus of the One who is our provider.  We begin to think WE are to earn our provisions apart from Him.  While money is necessary in this life, loving it is not!  Love God, Worship Him, and all things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

If you’re consumed with thoughts of money, check your giving.  If you find that it’s hard to give…then you need to give.  Give in faith that God will come through.  Without faith, no one can please God (Hebrews 11:6). 

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.” – Malachi 3:10