Matthew 6:24
You cannot be the slave of two
masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one
than the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
“If it isn’t also true for a poor single Christian mom in Haiti, it isn’t true.” – Jen Hatmaker, For The Love*
Consider this something of a “plug” for Jen Hatmaker’s latest book, For the Love.
After I settled on this scripture passage from Matthew 6, I opened
Jen’s book to the third chapter, and this quote practically leapt from
the pages! She refers to it as a “biblical benchmark.” In other words,
if money and “things” are as important as we make them out to be, they
must be equally important to the poor single Christian mom in Haiti.
If
having kids that excel in every sport…or being the top salesperson in
your division or “Number 1” in anything is critical to your joy,
well-being and sense of “success,” it must also be so for this mother.
If what others think of you, how attractive you are, whether you have
the latest fashions and “pretty friends” who are incredibly popular
matters to you…it must matter to this poor single Christian mom in
Haiti.
Feeling a little silly yet? I know we are not supposed to
compare ourselves to others…but in this instance, I think it has
merit. Because you see, God’s gifts, blessings, and abundance in the things that truly matter
are just as readily available to that poor single Christian mom in
Haiti as they are for you and me. Salvation through Jesus Christ and
the promise of Eternity at His feet in Heaven has nothing to do with how
hard we work, how attractive we are, whether we excel at earthly
things, how much money we make, or how much “stuff” we have!
Our
relationship with God has nothing to do with our social status,
socio-economic level, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, size…or how
many friends we have. Serving God is about just that…serving GOD!
We
are called to love God…to love others as He loves us – and as we love
ourselves…to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and encourage as many
people as we can to give their hearts to Him. We are told to feed the
hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and suffering, and encourage
those who are struggling. And we are told NOT to make anything or anyone
else our god.
So the next time you find yourself thinking more
about things of this world – or your own selfish desires – and less
about God and His missions and ministries, consider the poor single
Christian mom in Haiti. Where do you suppose she places her hope and
trust? Isn’t that where yours should lie also?
©2015 Debbie Robus
*For The Love - ©2015 Thomas Nelson Books for HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. ~ http://www.amazon.com/Love-Fighting-Grace-Impossible-Standards/dp/0718031822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441913947&sr=8-1&keywords=for+the+love+hatmaker
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