LOVER OF GOD OR LOVER OF GOLD?

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be … lovers of money.

2 Timothy 3:1-2

Loving God. Loving gold. Only one letter separates the two, but the outlooks are worlds apart. And the love of one will overpower the love of the other. As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters … You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13).

Paul accurately described the perilous times when people will be “lovers of themselves” (2 Timothy 3:2) and “lovers of pleasure” (2 Timothy 3:4)—the result of embracing the world’s system of values.

John Wesley has been described as a man who died leaving behind nothing but his Bible, his horse and the Methodist Church. Listen as he echoes Paul’s admonition about the deceitfulness of riches.

WALK WITH JOHN WESLEY

“Let us but open our eyes, and we may daily see the melancholy proofs of this—those who, resolving to be rich, coveting after money, the root of all evil, have already pierced themselves through with many sorrows. The cautiousness with which the apostle here speaks is highly observable. For one may possibly be rich, without any fault of his, by an overruling Providence, preventing his own choice.

“Riches, dangerous as they are, do not always ‘plunge people into ruin and destruction’ (1 Timothy 6:9), but the desire for riches does. Those who calmly desire and deliberately seek to attain them, whether they do in fact gain the world or not, do invariably lose their own souls.

“These are they that sell him, who bought them with his blood, for a few pieces of gold or silver.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD

Worldly voices and values clamor for your attention every day. And given the chance, they will dictate your priorities. Paul’s advice has never been more timely: Focus on “the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). God’s Word is a “gold mine” for the one who loves God. 

YOUR CHOICE

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15

From the moment you roll out of bed in the morning, you’re making decisions — some big, some small. You decide how you’ll cover your body with clothing or fuel it with food. You select people to speak to and topics of conversation. You choose between an endless variety of ways that you can spend your time.

Choices. Joshua had them too. Some small and mundane, some large. God placed him in charge of a nation of people who had to decide whether to worship idols made by human hands or to worship the One holding the entire world in his hands.

We face the same choices. Daily, we must choose where we will place our faith and whom we will serve. The only choice that brings life is to serve the living God.

Today, you may be tempted to lie on an expense report or make up an excuse as to why you can’t attend the weekly prayer meeting. Ask what it means in each situation to worship and serve the living God. Then choose.

PRAYER

God, give me the strength daily to make the right choices. Today, I choose …

DEVOTED—WHOLEHEARTEDLY

• What are some things that people are devoted to?

• What gets in the way of devotion to God?

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

1 Chronicles 28:9

Devotion is the word we use to describe participating in a short Bible study and discussion, like the one we’re having now. But the word devotion also refers to the attitude that drives us to seek God.

To be devoted means to be dedicated. And in this verse, David is telling his son Solomon to wholeheartedly dedicate himself to God. King David knew that people can’t halfheartedly serve God.

When we do serve God with wholehearted devotion, God will reward us. When we make him the focus of our lives, he will bless us. That’s his promise. The more devoted we become, the more he blesses us.

To devote our life to God means that we live completely for him. It means that we live our life to please and honor him. We seek him, worship him and love him—with our whole heart. 

PRAYER

Dear God, you are the only one who deserves our wholehearted devotion. Help us clear the obstacles in our lives that keep us from being wholeheartedly devoted to you. Amen.