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AMOS 8:4-7

1 TIMOTHY 6:6-10

LUKE 16:1-13

SUNDAY REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is you cannot serve God and wealth. God is the creator of the universe and the supreme being worthy of worship by His creations. Wealth on the other hand is the abundance of valuable possessions or money. It is important to state that wealth is also part of the creations of God and His blessings for humanity. We shall deliberate on the following points even as we discuss the theme:

1. The love of wealth corrupts and the absolute love of wealth corrupts absolutely.
2. The love of God brings contentment and gain.

Firstly, to love wealth and become its servant rather than its master leads to corruption. When we love money and become obsessed with wealth, we are likely to do anything regardless of its ramification or adverse effect on our moral and spiritual lives. This was the situation at the time of Prophet Amos, people were so obsessed with wealth that they lost the fear of God and with impunity cheated the poor and made dishonest gains. It was, for this reason, that Amos warned them, “Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?” — skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The LORD has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.” (Amos 8:4-7). Dear friend, the love of wealth or money may lead us to commit atrocities against other people for our personal gain. It is sad to note that many believers have created a rigid dichotomy between their spiritual lives and their socio-economic lives. In other words, many of us appear holy or righteous before God on Sunday but from Monday to Saturday, it is business as usual, we cheat people and engage in corrupt practices that unjustly enrich us but cause great havoc to others. It was for this reason, Jesus unequivocally said that “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16:13). Dear friend, we cannot serve God and wealth! Again, Paul greatly admonished us through his letter to Timothy that “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). There is nothing wrong with working and desiring to be rich but wealth must be created through the fear of God, with the aim of serving Him and humanity. Wealth must be made with integrity and respect for human dignity. Wealth is not an end in itself, but it is a means to an end. When God blesses our hard work with wealth, we are to receive it and use it to honour Him and serve Him by caring for those in need.

Secondly, if we love and serve God, He will bless us and we shall experience contentment with gain. The love of wealth or living to serve wealth prevents us from living a life of contentment and peace, however, we are reminded by Paul that “godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8). Beloved in the Lord, in as much we desire to be rich, let us be content with current blessings or gains God has bestowed upon us in the form of food, clothing and shelter. These are the basic needs of every human being. We must learn to take each day at a time and allow God to lead us on our quest for riches and wealth creation. Obsession with wealth and sleepless nights will render us slaves to wealth but if we work and allow God to lead our path we shall become masters of our wealth and servants of God. In other words, if we love our wealth and become obsessed with it then we shall become servants of wealth and God will have no significant place in our lives. Many Christians of our time, have become slaves or servants to the wealth to point that they no longer have time for prayer and Bible Studies. Many have become Sunday worshippers because, Monday to Saturday, 24 hours of all the six days are dedicated to business, work and wealth creation. For this reason, many give excuses upon excuses when they are given tasks to perform in the house of God. Most of us lack contentment because we are continuously restlessly and anxiously seeking after the things of this world only to soon leave them behind after we have acquired them. Beloved in the Lord, our relationship with God must lead to contentment and the assurance that God will provide for our needs. Let us remember to see “… seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34)

In summary, my dear friend in the Lord, the love or obsession with wealth will corrupt and sever our relationship with God even as we are adversely affected spiritually. Again, the love of God brings contentment and gain or blessings into our lives, however, the obsession with wealth leads to anxiety or restlessness. May the Holy Spirit empower us to remain faithful to God even as we navigate through the world of work and business to create wealth. Amen.