Idolatry of Money

Gracious Father of all, Oh, how we adore you. We do not adore you because we are so full of love ourselves, we adore you because you have first adored us. For we have no love within us to give except that which is graciously granted by You. We ask for love to dwell inside of us; we ask for hope to be a prominent characteristic people notice in us, and we ask that our works may not be our own, for they are filthy rags. May our works be the working of the Holy Spirit through our fleshly bodies. Thank You for Your grace and love, in Jesus name, Amen.

I'm terrible with money. Ask my girlfriend, my mom, my dad, my sister, or anyone who knows anything about me, and they will tell you the same thing. I am not good at handling money. By that, I mean that if I am given a large sum of money, usually by the end of the week, I do not know where it has gone. It has usually been spent on things that I didn't need, things that entertained me for a day and then were forgotten or I spend it on equipment to start a new hobby I think I might like and I find out I hate it. I hope, for my sake that I'm not the only one who suffers from this sort of greed; but I hope, for my fellow Christians sake, that I am the only one who struggles with this.

Society tells us that the richer we get, the happier we are. The more we have, the more satisfied we are. They tell us this because they are focused on this world, and they, in effect, want us to focus on this world too. They want money because they are focused on this world, and we give them money for things because we are focused on this world as well. It's important to understand that riches are not a bad thing, stuff is not a bad thing, entertainment is not a bad thing. The question isn't "are you rich?" The question is "are you focused on your riches or God?" Riches, in themselves, are not a bad thing, but they are a slippery slope to idolatry. Any God-given gift can be abused: money, children, spouse, sex. Secularism wants us to focus on the world we are in today, the gospel wants us to focus on eternity.

If we choose to focus our attention on the world we are in today, we will get all the money we can, have all the sex we can, enjoy all the things of the flesh that we can possibly engorge ourselves in. If we choose to focus our attention on eternity with Jesus Christ, we will deny ourselves and pick up our cross daily. We will not be hindered when we fall because of the wait of our cross, not because of our strength, but because God bears our cross with us.

Do not let things of this world be your idol, for God hates idolatry. Humans were made to praise, but they were not made to praise false gods, rather, the real God. We were not created for idols sake, we were created for God's sake. My dear brothers and sisters, do not let yourselves fall down the road of idolatry, for everyone who does not worship our Father worships an idol. I pray for us, that we may not allow ourselves to be overtaken by the secular pull of society, but overcome by the power of a gracious and loving God. May God's grace be upon us during the times we struggle with such sin. God be gracious to us, your children, whom you love.

"Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf." - Proverbs 11:28