day 191 "The world is never satisfied, even after your death."

Day 191 Matthew 23:16-22 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.” Gosh, do I love this stuff! I don't really understand how anyone could ever call the Word of God boring or impossible to understand. I mean, this is just good stuff! Oh, I already said that, didn't I? Having been both in business for myself and employed in the corporate world for two decades prior to my role as a pastor, this passage makes perfect sense to me. You see, for most people who work in the world, the purpose of employment is to maintain a lifestyle. The lifestyle you desire can always be attained with hard work (especially in the United States) as it is directly related to the effort one is willing to exert. Again, by the world’s standards, if you desire to have a lavish lifestyle, it will require long hours, hard work, many self-sacrifices, and in some cases, even moral sacrifices. The worldly standard is that money rules–a person’s income is directly related to the income of the employer; therefore, in most cases, the goal is always to increase revenue. When the goal is to increase revenue, generally speaking, the revenue will increase; however, it truly cannot if everyone is focusing on revenue only. The wise Godly businessman will always remind his people that revenue is required and expected; however, never at the expense of morality or others. When I took over as the general manager of a rather large company, I instilled a new way of thinking to all of my employees. Our motto became: "Never lie, cheat, steal, or deceive, nor do business with people who do." In three years, our profits increased over 200 percent, and all of our five outside sales people made the top ten for the chain. Yet even with such great increases and high achievements, it was never enough; the company always wanted more. Why? Because of greed. I was actually told that I was not hired to save people but to make the owner money, and even though we had succeeded in doing so, the morality was always an issue. When gold is in rule, greed will be the driving force–it is a monster that is never full and always hungry for more. The leaders of Jesus’ time (at least the ones He is addressing) have obviously placed more emphasis on the gold and luxury than they have on the purpose of their being. These people were religious leaders; their true purpose was to instruct the people in the Word and to maintain order and sanctification for the people by leading in biblical principles. Instead, they have become corrupt. They have allowed the gold and the wealth to become that which they seek, and by corrupt means they have placed the emphasis on such and are, hence, corrupting the people as well. You see, they were more concerned about the quality of what people were bringing to the temple as an offering than they were the purpose of the offering or sacrifice. This passage should excite us for many reasons, one of which is that we do not serve a god of greed; we serve a God of love, a God who desires to bless us, to keep us from harm, and a God who seeks to make us holy as He is holy, even at His own expense. How about you? Are you serving God or god? We need not ever sacrifice our morality for wealth; after all, God is the giver of good gifts, and He can surely handle your bank account. Don't sell out, and if you have, earn back your right place with God through repentance. Daily Prayer: Father, I pray that You would give me the strength to resist the temptations of this world in order that I might walk closer with You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "The world is never satisfied, even after your death." Gene Burroughs, Pastor