Topic: A Choice to Make. Scripture Reading: 1 Tim 1-21 - When God created the heaven and the earth, and all the things both great and small, He included the idea and reality of hierarchy. - He created men to take charge of everything. - There is always the ruling and the ruled, the lower and the higher, the master and the slave. There will always be those who subject themselves under a dominating power be it in politics, relationships, families, businesses and even religions, it is present in almost every aspect of society. - But one thing is made clear in the Bible: that men are always bound by masters and the masters to which they commit themselves are determined only by their own decisions. - In Matthew 6:24, it says, No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will standby and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. AMP version. - These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, and whoever reads these words will be confronted with a decision to choose whom to serve. * The kind of life that we have right now is the result of the decisions we have made in the past. Everyday we are confronted with different decisions to make. They may be easy, difficult or important with varying implications. e.g, we can choose which ever path we want to go, whatever career we want to pursue, and pick the way we will run our lives - all because we are a free moral agent, meaning, we are free to decide. - We might be influenced by different factors that will shape our decisions; nevertheless these are still our decisions. This is best illustrated by the story of Adam and Eve when the serpent tempted them to do what God forbid them to do. * They fell into sin because they decided to take heed of the serpents malicious invitation. For this reason, their sin was branded as voluntary. > 3 Possible Masters to whom men submit themselves to: 1. The Mammon - Matthew 6:24 mentions the two: God and mammon. Mammon means the material possessions of man. The things we own, the things cherished and treasured. - They are regarded as a ruler, a master or a god that demands our devotion, service, trust and love. ( read Matthew 6:24). - * It must be remembered that money is not inherently bad. It is neutral. Money becomes evil only when it becomes central to men. When money turns out to be mens primary goal then it becomes evil. * For the love of money is the root of all evil .....(read 1Tim6:10) - *The mammons in short are the things that men possess, cherish and treasure. They could be masters or gods when they captivate mens attention, dedication and time. - The early ministers of God warned us not to be slaves of the things we possess for it could turn into something that will bind us further to enslavement. 1Tim6:9, But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. * Men have the tendency to fully devote themselves to the things that give them great profit. They could give everything that they have in their lives just to possess that which they dont. When men crave much for the things they do not possess, it is called covetousness. According to Colossians 3:5, covetousness is idolatry. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. - In the Ten Commandments God commanded the people not to covet the things others have. * Moreover the Bible warns us not to trust on any of the material things that we possess, because these will all pass away without any promise of eternity. 1 Tim 6:17, Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty,nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 2. Sin - Is the other master that enslaves men. When we are bound by sin, our lives will be nothing but a cycle of pleasure seeking: pleasure of the eye and pleasure of the flesh. * We will be lifeless if we live in sin because we are separated from God who is the source of life. E.g., if we live in sin we are dead in the eyes of God, spiritual death. 1 Tim 5:6, But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. - According to The Lord, he that commits sin is a slave of sin. And Apostle Paul, admonishes us not to let ourselves be chained by sin. Romans 6:16, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that ones slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 3. God - * The only Master that we should be devoting ourselves to is God. He is the Life and the Light. He is the real Master. - He is the source of peace, of hope, of new life and of everything men desire. - He wants us to worship him and love him with all the strength we have, with all our mind and with all our heart. - He demands our love, commitment and dedication, for He owns everything even the lives that we possess. -1 Cor 6:19, Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? Because of this, God is demanding us to surrender our lives to Him. 1 Cor 6:20, For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and on your Spirit, which are Gods. -* This body we now have belongs to God. This is His dwelling place. He is claiming our bodies because these are His. Thus we have the responsibility to use it for His glory. -* But how can we glorify God? How can we honor Him? To Love and to honor means we have to put Him as first in our lives before anything and anybody else. We must regard Him as the King, the Master. - Apostle Paul admonishes us to make ourselves pleasing to God. Romans 12:1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 6:19, I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. Conclusion: If God, if Jesus Christ is our Master, then our bodies must be laid in the altar of sacrifice to be used by The Lord. We must keep our bodies in sanctification and honor for the glory of The Lord. Would you like your body, your life to be used for Gods honor? Then it is high time that we pray and decide.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 02:54:50 +0000
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