One-ness with God…
Question #6 - Do you desire God above all things in life, even life itself (Matt 22:37)?
Life consists of a series of trade-off decisions for us to choose. In Matthew, Jesus says that we have to choose to serve God or serve mammon. The question this week is broader than money and perhaps deserves another look - God or All things in this world, even life itself?
The Lord Jesus Christ faced this same choice in the wilderness. The devil told Jesus to worship him and will then give Jesus all kingdoms in the world with their riches. Jesus answered, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only” (Matt 4:8-10).
This time, propose we develop a list of criteria to analyze the choices and to help us make the right decision. It turns out that we need only 3 criteria (3 questions):
1. Is the choice limited in scope? Let’s think of “all things” in terms of fame, money and power – the main things people desire.
For fame, what lists do we want our name on? the Nobel prize, the Forbes riches 400, the Who’s who?… the list goes on and on.
For money, how much money is enough? Is 100 milion USD or 1 billion USD or more? No matter how big a number, we can always add more zeros to it... in current time, Bill Gates used to be the richest man in the world until he is unseated by Jeff Bezos. Given time, Bezos will be unseated as well.
For power, what empire or world power can we think of? Babylon, Greek, Roman, Russia?... they come and gone. Remember only our God is infinite in all areas because He created all things.
2. Is the choice perishable? All people are sinners and live in a fallen world. Everybody and everything will be judged. After Jesus’ second coming, God’s children will rule with Him in the renewed sky and earth. Only treasures in heaven will not perish (Matt 6:20). Store our treasures in heaven and our heart will be in heaven as well (Matt 6:21). God promises to give us more (Prov 11:14,15) perhaps 100 times more (Matt 19:29) to encourage us to give more and to bless us abundantly. We ourselves will perish and will not bring anything with us. All things and all riches in the world will be meaningless.
3. Is life worth living for God in according to God’s will? A lot of people seek the meaning of life and the purpose for living. The obvious question then is, What do we do with our resources? We would not be happy if we can’t use our skills and talents or can’t do what we are created to do. A fish can’t climb trees! Life depends on God’s will and plans. Jesus told the disciples the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:19-20. The rich fool will say to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, “You fool. This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
Jesus concluded and settled it once and for all with this question: “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matt 16:26).
With God’s grace, I pray for all of us to choose God and to serve Him... We will be happy!