One-ness with God… Jesus said one cannot serve two masters, one must choose God or mammon (Matt 6:24). Mammon is a Syrian god, the god of riches. Some bible translations call it money. Let’s take a closer look at Mammon/money this week following last week.
People over the ages worship and serve Mammon. In the world we live in, money can buy a lot of things and people ignore God. Mammon is a spirit because it can talk to us. Mammon is in fact a liar and promises us that it (not God) will give us everything we ever wanted. Mammon even presents itself as the Prosperity Gospel that we looked at last week. People will find that money is not true happiness and it could bring about anxiety, regrets, separation, destruction… People are angry with God when they are not blessed, even when they don’t serve God... It is such an irony.
The spirit of mammon also tells us that we can’t help people because we have little money. This is not true because to “have little” is only a test. God can test us with little money or a lot of money. If we are faithful with little, we will be faithful with a lot. God’s command is we tithe or bring 1/10 (or 10%) of what God gives us into God’s house. We can keep 90% for our use. God also wants us to bring the first 1/10 to Him because He deserves our highest priority. God accepted Abel’s offering, but didn’t accept Cain’s because Cain didn’t bring his best and Abel did (Gen 4:3-4).
Also, Jesus says we will be blessed 100 times of what we gives (Matt 19:29 – And everyone who has left anything for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life). As an example, Pastor Robert Morris of Gateway Church in Texas shared that he once donated his preaching fee of $2,500 to a Christian conference. He only asked God to bless it 100 times, not for him but for God’s work. After the conference, the organizer called him and told him that they had received a total of $250,000 in offerings. In fact, it was double of the record offerings from the year before. Pastor Morris said he was very happy and this is a blessed life.
God wants us to be good stewards and be a faithful conduit for God’s blessings. When we give, God will give us more to encourage us to give more. In God’s will, the more we give, the more we have. As an example, pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California donates 91% of his salary now after years of giving 10%, 20%, then 30% and more. God has blessed his ministry abundantly.
I pray for us to have a blessed life as we serve God and be a faithful steward. Amen.
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