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.

MORE REASONS

READ: ECCLESIASTES 4:7-12

Beside companionship and sex, there are other reasons why people want to get married. One reason is business. Some people desire to build a family business and do not want outsiders involved in their affairs. So they go into marriage to make their wives partners and their children senior managers.
From our reading, we see that some may marry because they want to derive the benefit of being two. Where two or three are gathered, a church already stands, because God will be present as long as it is done in his Name. One shall chase a thousand but two shall chase ten thousand. Apart from this, some also marry to be able to generate a greater anointing to resist and overcome the enemy and have strength in the Lord.
Some people venture into marriage because of ministerial needs. They may be pastors who from time to time need to counsel women. As an unmarried person, the temptation with some women could be strong, but with their wives beside them to jointly handle the counselling, there is little or no danger. This is why the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 3:2-5 says a bishop must be husband of one wife. That is, he must be married.
All these needs can be met in marriage. But they can also be met without marriage if you are sufficiently close to God. That you are a pastor and married does not insure you against adultery. If you want to sin, you will irrespective of what those around you may say. Let God work on you.
Another reason for going into marriage is family pressure. The pressure will be greater if you are above certain age (for sisters) or if younger siblings have already married. The problem with pressure is that the person who succumbs may fall a victim to an ill-advised marriage which may be regretted later. Do not let anyone pressurise you into a marriage you are sure God approves of. Those family members will not be there to help you when you begin to reap the evil dividends.

MEMORIZE: PROVERBS 5:18 –Let your fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of your youth.      

PECULIAR TREASURE

READ: 1 SAMUEL 15:22-27

Many times we err because we equate our standards with God’s. The Scriptures clearly state that God is not a man. He has already said that nothing unclean will gain entrance into heaven but some feel otherwise. We think we can get him to lower his standards.
For you to remain a favourite bride, God requires total obedience. In today’s reading, God sent a favourite bride to another of his favourites. Samuel told Saul that God preferred and demanded total obedience above sacrifice, but the latter refused to obey fully. As a result God, rejected him as favourite. May God never reject you! “Now therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine...” (Exodus 19:5).
You are special to God. If you will keep his covenant and obey his Word, then you will become a peculiar treasure above everyone else on the face of the earth! How marvellous. But remember being a favourite is a choice that can also be reversed. Esther replaced Vashti as Queen (Esther 2:17) and after that Vashti was deserted; nothing was ever heard of her again. Joshua replaced Moses; king Saul replace Eli and David replace Saul.
1 Samuel 16:13-14 tells us that king Saul woke up as a king one morning, but before the end of the same day, he had become a lunatic. You have to know how to hold tight to being God’s favourite. “So the last shall be the first and the first last: for many be called but few chosen.” (Matthew 20:16).
This implies that if the number one misbehaves, he can become the last and vice versa. Are you sanctified? Do not allow death to meet you before you are made perfect. You have the opportunity now to become the person he wants you to be.

MEMORIZE: EXODUS 19:5 –Now therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine...