Today, the 22nd day of Dec.2017, I left home by 7.00 am to town and made some cash withdrawal. On my way, some thoughts began to pop-up in my mind. I thought about Christmas, the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ. I asked myself, what does the birth, death and resurrection of Christ mean to me? I quickly answered, my salvation of course; but is that all? What does it mean to God the Father? The coming of Jesus into the world, his death and resurrection brought glory to the Father. I asked myself further, now that I have salvation am I really glorifying God with my life? While these thoughts were going on in my mind I was almost at the bank negotiating how to park my car. As I came out of the car and walked toward the bank I saw two long queues. Wow! I exclaimed. It was just 7.15 a.m but people were already at the ATM terminal and I was the 35th in one of the queues. Meanwhile, others have withdrawn and gone.
As I stood in the queue my mind went back to what I was thinking of and I related it to what I saw. I asked myself further, if we were asked to go to Church or to do something for God can we keep time as we did to the bank? What is my attitude about the things of God compared to money? I took a deep breath; many instances came fresh in my mind. How many times have I rush to my phone when I received a credit alert from my bankers but give less regard to other messages even when it is a message from my Church passing some information across? How often do I think about God as I think about money? I discovered that I was prompt to issues of money than the things of God despite my commitment to Him. I didn’t know that money has stolen my mind to that extent until when I saw myself on God’s scale.
I got carried away by my thoughts to the extent that I didn’t notice the time the man before me left the queue, and many people who were ahead of me were sitting down at random positions so I could not trace my position in the queue anymore. I looked for a place and sat down also until when the people reorganise themselves in the queue. When I sat down my mind went back to my thoughts; I felt remorse and incapacitated. I could not deny the picture of myself the Holy Spirit revealed to me. I told myself that nothing must stand between me and my God. Yes, God first, that is my resolution.
I don’t know about you, what is your attitude towards money? Can you confidently say that money issue doesn’t move you? Do you tremble at the things of God above things that can add money to your purse? We all have needs that we must meet; most times we get carried away by how to raise money and meet those needs, and that tends to override the love of God in our hearts. None of us would agree that she loves money than God, but when money issues occupy our hearts all the time don’t you think we need to pause and weigh our love for God on His scale? We may need the money for His work, but when we put so much attention to it we can get carried away by it.
Beloved, the world is becoming more complicated; things to do with money are increasing, but the money is not easy to come by. We crack our brains and put a lot of hard work in order to raise money. Yes, we must work hard but we need to be on alert so that it does not override the love we have for our God. Most of us have memorised Mat.6:35 which says we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and other things will be added to us. I may be right to say sometimes we fall short of that.
The time is running fast, and the clock is ticking; soon Jesus will return. When he comes what will he find us doing? Jesus said, “Be careful, or your hearts would be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day would close on you unexpectedly like a trap” Luke 21:34. Share on X
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