Wednesday 26 December 2012

LOYALTY


READ: LUKE 9:57-62

As a servant of God, your service to him must be in undivided loyalty. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24).
Mammon is the god of money. You cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. You cannot combine money-making with serving God. If you are in business, it is business. If you are serving God, face God. But if you want to serve him in business, then you should realise you are in business for him; as a steward, he will make you his treasurer. A treasurer usually holds and manages money on behalf of the owner, who could be an individual, a company, a community or a nation. A treasurer does not lavish the money in his care on himself.
In our reading, Jesus Christ had an encounter with some people who wanted to follow him. Each of them had a loyalty apart from the Lord. The first wanted to follow the Lord but he was not prepared to lose his comfort. The second also desired to follow Christ, but he wanted equally to satisfy the requirements of his local customs and traditions. The third desired to follow Christ but was not prepared to break away from the stronghold his family had on him.
“If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26). Have you decided to serve or follow the Lord? You have to be single-minded. Every distraction must be shown the way out. Your loyalty to Christ must be total. At any point that his commands run counter to the expectations of your parents, family, community, nation or yourself, you must submit to his will. Are you truly ready to serve the King of Glory?  

MEMORIZE: MATTHEW 6:24 –No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.