Matt 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (NKJV)
In Mt 6:19-34 Jesus gives a general discourse regarding our use of money and things and whether we will pursue them and make a god of them or whether we will trust God to provide. Matt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. The word ‘mammon’ is an Aramaic word speaking of worldly wealth and riches with a strong negative connotation thus pointing out the dangers of wrong use.
So let’s look at some points in this story. In v 19-21 Jesus warns against the accumulation of riches. There is nothing wrong with storing up wealth; many people invest in pension funds, stocks and shares, property, inheritance for their children or as a fall back when times are tough; but as Jesus points out, are we storing up riches for riches sake or are we doing it to put it to good use.
Jesus exposes our motive for riches by asking us where our heart is. Is our heart a covetous heart that lusts after riches or is it a heart that wants to use riches for the promotion of the kingdom of God; He links this with v 22 which is a Hebrew idiom regarding our use of riches: The eye is the lamp of the body. So if you have a good eye (that is, if you are generous) your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an evil eye (if you are stingy) your whole body will be full of darkness. (JNT)
In other words, are you stingy or generous with money and things. Are we givers or are we hoarders. Prov 11:24-25 One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
In this verse, God is showing us that to selfishly hoard riches will bring us to poverty but if we use our riches to meet the needs of others it will bring even greater prosperity. Giving is God’s antidote to a selfish heart, giving forces us to look outside ourselves toward others. God gave His Son as a sacrifice, He sowed Him as a seed to meet the needs of sinful mankind and now He is reaping the harvest with billions of sons coming into His family.
Meditation Point: We are freed up to give when we see God’s purpose for our lives. His purpose is to grow His Kingdom.
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