Devotion from Vicar Anand Darla of Good Shepherd South Asian Ministries for October 26, 2020:
1John 2:15 Christ minded Christian by Vicar Anand Darla GSSAM
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
When you love money and things, you will forget God (Proverbs 30:9), trust your riches rather than Him (Job 31:24-28), buy in to deception (Mark 4:19), compromise convictions (2 Timothy 4:10), be proud (Deuteronomy 8:14), steal from God (Malachi 3:8), and ignore the needs of others (1 John 3:17). Love of wealth and possessions will cause you to pursue them illegitimately by stealing (Ephesians 4:28) whether through force (1 Kings 21:1-16), through fraud (Amos 8:5), or through usury (Psalm 15:5; Proverbs 28:8) or by gambling, an irrational trust in chance rather than the kind providence of God.
If you want to avoid the sins that accompany the love of money, Jesus prescribes a single-minded attitude toward wealth and possessions. And in Matthew 6 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20). He commands us to store up a single treasure, maintain a single vision, serve a single master, and seek a single goal.
I was able to see and heard much hunger, pain, cry due to loss of job, loss of loved ones especially due to COVID-19. But we need to realize that our implicit responsibility of the church is take part in that hunger and cry. Jesus Christ our savior and Lord shown in action. He set the example for believers to show love to each other and to the world by what He did. If Christ is truly your Master, you may still be tempted toward materialism. “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Prove yourself to be filled with the love of the Father and keep your eyes clear from the love of temporal things. You will maintain clear vision of eyes that truly see and enjoy God’s gift of light.
The Bible does not forbid the possession of money. In fact, many in the Bible—Job (Job 1:3), Abraham (Genesis 13:2), Isaac (Genesis 26:12-13), Jacob (Genesis 30:43), Boaz (Ruth 2:1), and Solomon (1 Kings 10:23) were extremely wealthy as a result of God’s blessing. And all these Godly people become source of blessings to many, and now we are able to see as they still live in our Christian community as a living examples for their charity and love.
Christians in this country are blessed with unparalleled affluence, have unprecedented opportunity to pursue the interests of the kingdom, and live under the unwavering gaze of the God who will call each one to account. Specially during this COVID-19 are able to send your offerings to your church and able to think need of other in within your ministry? So, what is your heart’s preoccupation? Are you more concerned with the kingdom of God or with the things of this world? Think about where you are storing your treasure; consider the condition of your eyesight; contemplate which master you serve; and assess what it is you seek. If you are on the wrong side of His will, return to a single-minded pursuit of His kingdom and His righteousness, and enjoy the blessing of His favor.