In the last part of this series, we talked about The World’s message – if we can just get more of what The World can offer us, we’ll be happy and satisfied. God tells us The World’s message is wrong and clearly shows us in the Bible that only His Message is true. Only God can bring us true happiness, satisfaction, and security.
Today, we’re going to look a little more at why The World’s message is a problem.
It Keeps Us from Serving God
In Luke 16:13-15, Jesus tells us:
13 “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and mammon.” 14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him. 15 He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Luke 16:13-15 (WEB)
If we’re focused on The World and the things it offers, effectively we’re serving Money. And Jesus tells us when we are serving Money, we absolutely cannot serve God.
God knows our hearts, and if we value the things of This World above Him then we are detestable in His sight. Putting more faith in the “wisdom” of The World than in God’s Wisdom means that we have demoted God to a lesser status. And we Christians know that the greatest commandment of all is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind – our entire being. If we place The World’s message above God’s Message, we cannot keep this greatest commandment.
It Cannot Provide an Eternal Reward
Psalm 49 does a wonderful job of explaining why we shouldn’t believe The World’s message. The wealth of This World cannot save us from death; and once we die (as we all must), we cannot take any of it with us. Slowly read this passage and reflect upon it as you ask God to reveal the lies of The World and teach you His Truth.
1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
Hear this, all you peoples.
Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom.
My heart shall utter understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb.
I will open my riddle on the harp.5 Why should I fear in the days of evil,
when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
6 Those who trust in their wealth,
and boast in the multitude of their riches –
7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother,
nor give God a ransom for him.
8 For the redemption of their life is costly,
no payment is ever enough,
9 That he should live on forever,
that he should not see corruption.10 For he sees that wise men die;
likewise the fool and the senseless perish,
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever,
and their dwelling places to all generations.
They name their lands after themselves.
12 But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure.
He is like the animals that perish.
13 This is the destiny of those who are foolish,
and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.14 They are appointed as a flock for Sheol.
Death shall be their shepherd.
The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.
Their beauty shall decay in Sheol,
far from their mansion.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah.16 Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich,
when the glory of his house is increased.
17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away.
His glory shall not descend after him.
18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul –
and men praise you when you do well for yourself –
19 he shall go to the generation of his fathers.
They shall never see the light.
20 A man who has riches without understanding,
is like the animals that perish.Psalm 49:1-20 (WEB)
I especially like the last three verses. How often do we admire the wealthy for their success? Yet despite all their success, if they trust in their wealth they will die just like wild animals. God is the only one who can save us from death, and He can only do that if we give up believing The World’s message and seek His Truth.
In the next part of this series, we’ll start talking about how we can ignore The World’s message and begin understanding the Truth.
Want to read the entire Bible study series on Contentment? Download your free copy of Contentment Is Wealth: A Bible Study on Contentment now!
