SCRIP-BITS

1 Timothy 6:10.     For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
 
Oh Friends, a beautiful Thursday morning is dawning out there! Praise the Lord! But according to the old nursery rhyme which we seem to be following this week, (smile) Thursday’s child has a far way to go. Unfortunately there is some truth to that, and not only for children born on a Thursday, but for all of us, regardless on what day of the week we were born. Our earthly journey can indeed be long in number of years, but thankfully, believers in Jesus have the wherewithal to withstand whatever comes against them in this life. And though Bruh Paul’s truthful declaration: ‘For all have sinned, and come (fallen) short of the glory of God;’ (Rom.3:23) involves us in ungodly activities, we, as followers of Jesus, also have the antidotes for that kind of behaviour. True repentance of sin that brings God’s generous forgiveness, with His mercy, grace and compassion, all help to lighten our heavy earthly loads. Not forgetting Jesus’ invitation for all who are heavy laden to come to Him and take His yoke, which is easy, and His burden which is light. (Matt.11:28-30) And to cap it all off, we also have the Holy Spirit that dwells within each believer, to give us wise and safe guidance and counsel along the straight and narrow way that we’re supposed to walk. Oh Friends, that’s why believers are called blessed! What with the new gifts our heavenly Father pours out on us each and every day, there’s no way for anybody to experience a better life on this earth than a true Christian. Unfortunately though, too many of us have repudiated the notion of God, or simply don’t believe in Him, and have chosen instead to go our own way, following the wide and winding path of this evil world. Consequently, we’ve lost all sight of and faith in God, foolishly turning to worldly idols like that spoken of in our Bit. ‘For the LOVE of money is the root of all (kinds of) evil; which while some coveted after (in their greediness), they have erred (strayed) from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’ Oh my people, truer words have never been spoken! We just have to look at the mad rush nowadays to get money, either to hoard it, or to purchase material possessions. Money now seems to be the very lifeblood of our society and our world, and is thus causing a lot of evil stuff, a lot of grief and heartache. Fraud and corruption are possibly the biggest crimes going now, especially with the Internet spreading its dreaded tentacles far and wide. Almost everyday I get some e-mail about somebody wanting me to help them move oodles of money from somewhere to somewhere else, and if I, like a fool accept those grandiose promises from people I don’t know, I will only end up losing what little I have. But obviously some people are accepting them, otherwise they wouldn’t be persisting with the schemes. That just goes to show how greedy some of us are. Corruption is also rampant all over our world, from the highest position, right down to the lowest. Why? Because regardless of how much we have, we all still crave money, and/or the things that can be bought with it. But I’m here to remind us Friends, that money, or whatever it can buy is not the most important thing in our world. Serving and worshipping Almighty God with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls is the NUMBER 1 commandment! Not running down money and earthly possessions. And until we begin seriously following that first commandment, our lives and our world will continue to be an ungodly mess. Sadly, money has been the source of negative actions from long ago, and today we’ll look at a perfect example found in the Good Book. During the early days of the church, the brethren lived a somewhat communal lifestyle, with everybody pooling their resources and sharing it as was necessary. However in Acts 5, we have the story of a husband and wife team, Ananias and Sapphira, who sold a plot of land but kept back a part of the money, lying that what they offered, was what they had sold it for. But the Lord revealed Ananias’ deceit to Peter, who then reprimanded him. ‘Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power (control)? why has thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost (breathed his last): and great fear came on all them that heard these things.’ (Acts 5:3-5) Then some three hours later, the wife, Sapphira shows up, and not knowing that her husband had died, also lied to Peter about the money. ‘Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt (test) the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway (instantly) at his feet, and yielded up the ghost (breathed her last): and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.’ (Acts 5:9-11) Oh Friends, maybe that is what we need to happen today to wake us up from our greedy, lying state of mind! Ananias and Sapphira were not compelled to give all they had, because it was voluntary giving, but the hypocrisy caused their downfall. Besides that, they were lying to God, through His church, to which they belonged. Luckily for us, the Lord doesn’t often strike us dead when we play the hypocrite. That’s enough for us to ponder today my people. And please, please, let’s all be wise and consider our individual feelings and behaviour towards money nuh, because both our earthly lives and salvation depend on us having the right attitude towards it. Much LOVE!   …money…money…money…REMEMBER…it’s NOT #1