WATCH THE CENTRE
Psalms 62: 10 Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing. And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life. NLT
The story of the rich fool in the bible illustrates better the meaning of our topic and buttresses our opening text. The man saw that he had a huge harvest from his farm and he said, "And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry"’, Luke 12:19. His harvest or we say wealth became the centre of his life and God pronounced a verdict on him in verse 20: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?". This rich fool made his wealth the centre of his life and he paid dearly with his life.
What does it mean when something is said to be at the centre of ones life? When something occupies a pole position or is taken to be highly important than other things, we'll say that very thing is at the centre of a man's life. When wealth making is at the centre of a man's life, he will do anything to make money. That's exactly what we are experiencing today. Unfortunately, some preachers also have wealth as the centre of their ministry and message. They can do just anything for money and manipulate people into giving with spurious promises of breakthrough. That's "spiritual yahoo yahoo". We're having young men who doesn't want to work and use their hands to make profit. They want to make it "big". Ritual killing and internet fraud is at an all time high. The bible says: "Tainted wealth has no lasting value, but right living can save your life", Proverbs 10:2 NLT.
Why lose your peace of mind because of ill-gotten wealth? Godliness with contentment will always produce great gain. Beware of money centred gospel. God won't give you wealth at the expense of your soul. The bible warns against the love of money: "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows", 1 Tim 6:10 NLT. The moment your life is skewed towards acquiring "things", you'll end like the rich fool. You need to ask God to help diagnose your life in case the lust for material things lurk within. God and His kingdom should be at the centre of our lives not money. "Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own”. Luke 12:15 NLT
Father, I receive the grace to put you at the centre of my life in Jesus name. Amen