‘ “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then, if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’ Matthew 6:22-24
As human beings, we have a bad habit of looking for this evil world system to solve the problems in our lives that God would happily do for us if we were to submit our hearts to Jesus Christ.
This post will touch on a couple of ideas we constantly battle with as we walk with the Lord. He will help us with things if we are willing to lay them at His feet.
The two ideas we will look at in this post are worry and money.
One area that most people on this earth, Christian or not, will worry about is money. Worry and money seem to go hand in hand. The Bible has extensive teachings about money. This tells me God knew that this would be an area where most people would struggle.
The thing about money is that if we were to make smart money decisions early in our lives, we would eventually be able to live off of that money’s interest or investment experience. The problem is that we generally grow up in households that struggle with money, so this is all we see.
If we live in a household that struggles with money, there is a good chance that there isn’t a lot of money around.
I remember the struggle my mother had raising four kids on one income with minimal child support. When I started to make money, I went crazy, buying clothes and stuff. The last thing I had in mind was saving any of it. Then I added on the credit card, and bingo, bango, I was in debt up to my eyeballs.
I didn’t realize what delayed gratification meant until I was much older.
My desires, which I couldn’t control, caused this to happen in my life. One of the attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit is “self-control.” I had no “self-control,” meaning I was not in step with the Spirit.
All this led me to work jobs I didn’t like to support my debt load.
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then, if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!“
This world system is set up to get us to buy on impulse. It is designed to take advantage of what we allow the system to know about us. Here’s a quick test: with your smartphone in range to hear your voice, start talking about something you would like to have. Next time you are on Facebook, Google, or any other app that serves ads, look at the ads; I would say that you will see ads focused on what you were talking about out loud.
Retailers spend millions of dollars every year trying to figure out how to get you to buy more products while you are in the store. From product placement to the shelf on which the product is on, it is all set up to sell you the most profitable products the stores sell.
Today’s verse says, “The eye is the lamp of the body.” What we allow into our eyes and ears will eventually manifest. If we are constantly looking at the new shiny products being marketed over time, we will eventually buy them.
This creates us as “consumers.” But as Christians, we are called to be creators. We are born in God’s image; God is creative. We are to look for ways to use God-given skills to serve those around us.
‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. ‘ Proverbs 4:23
The way we guard our hearts is to be intentional about what we allow our eyes to see and our ears to hear. We have complete control over this.
We shouldn’t be surprised that we constantly buy things if we focus on things.
This is not for Christians. Our focus should be on the return of our Lord, and we should help expand the Kingdom of God until He arrives.
‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. ‘ Colossians 3:1-4
If we set our hearts on the things above, we will no longer suffer from our desires for the things of this world. As we walk with Christ through this life, our attachments to the things of this world should decrease every day.
When we start doing this, we will start to worry far less about the things in our lives.
‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ‘ Philippians 4:6-7
This is a command for us inspired by the Holy Spirit through Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
When we start to find ourselves worrying, we should:
- Go to the Lord in prayer. He calls us to “cast all of our cares on Him.”
- Express thanksgiving and gratitude for everything He has done for us. His willingness to die for our sins on the cross is the main thing.
The by-product of praying to the Lord with gratitude is “the peace of God.” This peace is not ours to generate. It will be with us even if our circumstances are not favorable, and it will guard our hearts.
When He guards our hearts, this peace will be evident and stand as a testimony for others to observe in our lives. This will glorify God as He would like us to.
Heavenly Father, Thank You. Thank You for Your grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
I pray that You continue to guard my heart and help me be peaceful despite unfavorable circumstances.
I thank You for the opportunities You provide me to share my faith in You. I pray that You grant those I witness to the repentance that brings them to know Christ Jesus.
In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
