God or Materialism

UV 3678/10000 God or Materialism But when the young man heard this, he left grieving and distressed, for he owned much property and had many possessions ( which he treasured more than his relationship with God. Matthew 19 v 22 The young man treasured his possessions more than his relationship with God. This was his tragic flaw which Jesus knew. The lesson to be learnt is that in the course of our lives, the Lord might bless us with many possessions like the young man in conversation with Jesus but we must never treasure it more than our relationship with God. Our love for things must not exceed our love for God and if required by God or in order to continue our right relationship with God, we should be prepared to give it up. Jesus was testing if the young man could give up his possessions for the sake of following God. But the encounter ends with the young man grieving and distressed for he could not do what Jesus asked of him. We can pray that the Lord does not put us through such a tough choice in our lives. Burt if push comes to shove, like St Paul we should consider the things we have gained in this world by the blessing of the Almighty to be garbage or of no value in comparison with the love of God. The relationship with God through Jesus should occupy the chief place in our hearts and lives such that neither riches nor poverty, pleasure nor hardship, fortune nor misfortune, death nor life, principality nor power can separate us from the love of God. In the Old Testament, the followers of Elisha, the prophet was asked to leave behind their oxen and plough even as the disciples were asked to leave their boats and nets to follow Jesus. We ought not to value our material blessings more than our Blessor, Provider, Enabler for it would otherwise be used by the enemy of our soul to ensnare us. Our attitude towards our material possessions determines the way we use it for the satisfaction of our needs, to help others in need, to be of assistance to the needy in the body of Christ. The possessions were not the obstacle in the young ruler’s faith but his attachment to it, his reliance on his wealth instead of relying on the grace of God. Likewise, we should seek the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance to be careful of our attitude towards our material assets. Thankfulness to the Lord for His blessings, contentment and charity are good antidotes to prevent our possessions from possessing us. Our attitude towards our possessions should in no way provoke a ‘jealous’ God in that we become slack in our devotion to Him, complacent, replacing Him with things as the source of security or joy. Our possessions should not be a golden calf in our lives that we adore but a means of knowing how the good Lord has been gracious to us and to also understand its transitoriness and impermanence against the sovereignty of God. We should be able to say like Job, “ What God has given, He can take away.”