Servant or Master – kenbarnes.us
Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NLT)
The love of money is not determined by your amount but by your attitude toward what you have.
John D. Rockefeller, at the peak of his wealth, was worth 1% of the entire US economy, owning over 90% of the US oil and gas industry of his day. Compared to him, the wealthiest men of our day would seem almost poor. Yet, when asked how much money was enough, his reply was, “just a little bit more.”
The amount of money we have is not the issue. We all need money, but what money becomes to us is the problem. Someone once said, “money is a great servant but a lousy master.” Covetousness is the sin—the inordinate desire for wealth or possessions. The antidote for this condition is learning to be content with whatever God gives us, which Paul learned (Philippians 4:11).
The commentator Matthew Henry says concerning contentment, “We must come to terms with our present condition; those who cannot do this would not be content even if God raised their condition to what is in their minds, for the mind would rise with the condition.” In other words, they would always want just a little more.
C.S. Lewis once said, “Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it while really it is finding its place in him.” In other words, do we have our money, or does our money have us? If the former is true, it can be a necessary tool. If the latter is true, it becomes our master. You cannot serve God and money.
The image is used with permission from Microsoft.
Ken Barnes is the author of “Broken Vessels,” published in February 2021, and “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” published by YWAM Publishing in 2011.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Email- contact@kenbarnes.us
