In the previous installment in this series, I showed how God began to teach me to trust Him with every part of my life. This came on the back of the revelation that I was never equipped to direct my own life outside of God(Click here to read part 2). Having made the decision to trust God with every area of my life, He began to show me the wisdom behind doing so. He took me to Matthew chapter 6.

1. "You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both." (Matthew 6:24 MSG)

2. "So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect." (Romans 12:1-2 GNB)

In text "1" above Jesus compares God and Money, thereby implying that at best, money seeks to operate in place of God and has been elevated to such a status by our relationship with it, through worship. Text "2" reveals that worship involves conforming to please who/what you worship. When we look at the table below, we see the point Jesus is making.

God

Wants to be the object of our trust(1 Timothy 6:17)

Wants our obedience(Isaiah 1:19)

Wants us to take direction from Him(Romans 8:9,14)

Wants our attention and focus(Acts 17:24-28)

Wants us to derive our identity and self worth from Him (1 John 3:1-2)

Wants us to manifest His "self for others" love nature on earth(1 John 4:7-8)

Wealth/Riches

Wants to be the object of our trust(1 Timothy 6:17)

Wants our obedience(Ezekiel 22:27)

Wants to dictate our decisions even if they are anti - God(John 6:26-27)

Wants our attention and focus(Matthew 6:31-32)

Wants us to derive our identity and self worth from it(James 2:1-4)

Wants us to manifest the devils "others for self" selfish nature on earth(Titus 1:10-11)

(This list is by no means exhaustive, if you can think of any more please add them in the comments section)

The things listed above amount to worship. We see therefore that wealth and riches seeks to behave as a substitute for God in our lives. More to the point, worshiping them is mutually exclusive. One will take you away from the other.

1. "But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything." (Mark 4:19 CEV)

We were created to worship, having separated us from God, the devil introduced us the god of earthly wealth and riches called mammon.

Running from pillar to post

No time to stop and reflect

Seeking the elusive buck

A chance to secure a future

Where money is no object

And real life begins

Desperate to escape

The 9-5 rat race

Unwittingly got caught

In the rich at all cost race

All I succeeded in doing

Was making the peddlers of hope

Richer and richer

No effort too great

No money too much

Couldn't give up now

Freedom always seemed

Just around the corner

All I was getting

Was deeper and deeper in debt

Thought nothing of missing

The fellowship of the saints

To attend yet another meeting

To receive the Holy Grail

From self appointed gurus

Who've been there

Done that and sold the t-shirt

Then came my wake up call

My family put in harms way

To much in a hurry to go

Didn't take the time to care

Just had to get there

Finally arrived at the stop

From which to reflect

Nothing could be worth that much

To risk all that I already had

To gain what may never be

Who creates a nightmare?

In the search

For an elusive dream?

Here I was, a journeyman

Who had lost his way

I have put it all to rest

If I am to be rich

It will be according to Him

His blessing that make rich

No sorrows to add

The true riches of life

Oh what sweet, sweet rest

For my wearied soul

I began to see that I had to choose who would have my loyalty. Would I keep letting my desire for financial security dictate the priorities in my life or just trust God to meet my needs? I chose the latter. In the next part we will look at reason why riches compete against God for our affection.

Selah

(To be continued...)

Click here to read part 4

To view others instalments in the series, click here