Matt 6:19-24 Sermon on the Mount con’t
I want to stress here the reading of KJV “if therefore thine eye be SINGLE, thy
whole body shall be full of light.” (emphasis mine)
The opening paragraph rocks!
NOTHING is to get in
the way of serving God.
It’s not, Jesus +
anything.
It’s Jesus.
SINGLE!
“Only by following Christ alone can he preserve a single eye.”
The law, religion, church, family, job, world, government, works, etc,
NOTHING should get in our way of following Christ.
“The life of discipleship can only be maintained so long as NOTHING is
ALLOWED to come between Christ and ourselves.” (emphasis mine).
NOTHING- not even good things. Good things can get in the
way of following Christ.
Missions, giving, teaching, providing for family, taking
care of loved ones- ALL GOOD THINGS. But they must not be ALLOWED to rise above
God.
God FIRST!
ALLOWED implies it’s our choice.
Often, without realizing it, we move our priorities and
Christ drops a peg or two.
We don’t mean for it to happen.
We even deny it has happened, but our hearts reveal the
truth… and out of the abundance of the heart our mouths speak (Matt 12:34, Luke
6:45).
When our eye is not fixed solely on Christ, we begin to show signs of it.
Our feet stumble and our hands don’t operate as they should.
“…the heart of the disciple must be set upon Christ alone. If the eye
sees an object which is not there, the whole body is deceived. If the heart is
devoted to the mirage of the world, to the creature instead of the Creator, the
disciple is lost.”
As a church going Christian, I know how venomously we deny
loving the world over serving Christ.
But that’s not true. We all fall prey to this temptation. If
we didn’t, Jesus wouldn’t have preached on it. Remember last week, our Spirit
is willing but our flesh is weak (Matt 26:41).
“The light of the body is the eye, and the light of the Christian is
his heart…But the heart is dark when it clings to earthy goods, for then,
however urgently Jesus may call us, his call fails to find access to our
hearts.”
OUCH!
This passage in Matthew says we can’t serve God and anything
else.
It’s all God or none of God.
If our hearts are weighed down with the cares of the world-
even good things like serving others- we have taken God off His throne and we
serve an idol.
Those aren’t my words, they’re Gods.
Yes, we are to enjoy the things God gives us, but the Bible
makes it very clear we are given possessions to use, not to collect and not to
take the place of God.
“Where our treasure
is, there is our trust, our security, our consolation and our God. Hoarding is
idolatry.”
The size of our
treasure or what it consists of matters not. What matters is if it is placed
above God.
So how do we know if something is taking the place of God in
our lives/hearts?
“…everything which hinders us from loving God Above all things and acts
as a BARRIER between ourselves and our obedience to Jesus is our
treasure, and the place where our heart is.” (emphasis mine)
We can’t serve two masters.
The Bible says it’s “either—or”.
God and the world do not mix.
The tricky part is enjoying all God gives, yet remaining
detached from it.
For our possessions, even our good deeds, slowly move in and
take root where God is supposed to reign. Satan’s sneaky. He doesn’t come out
and tell you something is getting in your way of serving Christ. It’s a slow
process.
“…because the world and its goods make a bid for our hearts, and only
when they have won them do they become what they really are.”
In the end you love one master and hate the other.
None of us want to say we hate Jesus. But the Bible clearly
says if we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us (1 John 2:15).
It also says can either love the world or God…either—or.
So if God’s not
first, He’s last.
If God’s not your
love, you hate Him.
If we try to combine “love for him with love for the world, we
are turning our love for him into hatred.”
OUCH!
Bonhoeffer asks probing questions, they are my questions for
you today (worded slightly different):
1.
What are
you really devoted to?
2.
Is your heart set on earthy goods?
3.
Do you try to combine devotion to possessions
with loyalty with Christ?
4. How can a disciple have dealings with
earthly goods and yet preserve a singleness of heart?
5.
Are you devoted exclusively to Him?
No comments:
Post a Comment