To Trust and Have Simple Faith
ICS Daily Devotions
Mark 10:21-22(NKJV) Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
In this passage, Jesus was speaking directly into the life of the rich young ruler. Jesus was helping him to realise that his trust in money was hindering his faith in God because money was an idol and stronghold in his life. The solution for him would have been just to have simple faith in Jesus and deal with his trust of money in his life, but He trusted in Mammon more than God, and He couldn’t let go of his wealth. Similarly, there are people today who cannot change their unethical methods of conducting business in order to follow Jesus because they are afraid to acknowledge God as the source of their wealth and success. These Christians are half-hearted about following God because they are afraid of losing their wealth. We need to remember that God is a jealous God, and He doesn’t like us to be lukewarm or half-hearted towards Him—He wants all of us!
Mark 10:29-30 (NKJV) So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
We need to renew our minds that God can give us the power to get wealth if we are called to be a businessman or an entrepreneur, and we can become leaders in our fields if our hearts are in the right place and God is first in our lives. God can also grant grace and favour to help us be promoted to positions of significance. However, we cannot bargain with God that we will only love Him if we are promoted or when our business is doing well. Instead, we worship and honour God because He has sent His only Son to redeem us from our sins. We need to believe that if God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, there is no other good gift that He will withhold from us. If we are convinced that God is the source of our provision and success, then we will not compromise with the world.
Sermon Series: Seriously?
