Text: 1 Timothy 6:17-19
Memory verse:
”Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.“
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The oyster catchers are sea birds with strange behaviours. They lay two to three eggs but eventually desert their nest for one that has four eggs if it is undefended by the parents. They lose interest in their own eggs and are always attracted to larger eggs. They desert their nest for a nest that has larger eggs, and they even try to incubate eggs they can not sit on or straddle. What an illustration of a covetous life!
The opposite of covetousness is contentment. Contentment is not in possessing things but in possessing God. We were not created for things but for God.
Was the man in Luke 12:16-21 a fool because he had a bumper harvest or because he made plans? No, for a wise man plans (Prov 6:6-8). Rather, he was a fool because he didn’t have God in his plans. Having possessions is not wrong but putting your security in them. The rich man wasn’t a fool for being rich but for being self-centered and not rich towards God. The world’s understanding of riches is about what you can accumulate. The lands and houses you can have, the estates and businesses you can build, the clothes and jewelry you can acquire, and so forth. God’s perspective is what goes into your account in heaven. Even at death, the greatness of a man will not be measured by what he leaves behind but what lays ahead of him in eternity.
Covetousness doesn’t recognize the Lordship of Christ over everything. You have been entrusted with both your life and your riches. The Owner will demand for them someday.
Covetousness doesn’t prioritize relationships over riches. It is not how long a man lived on earth or what he possessed but the lives he impacted with the love of Christ. Your riches will be valued by the number of hungry people you fed, the thirsty you gave a cup,the naked you clothed, and the lonely you visited. (Matt 25:35-36).
Covetousness doesn’t recognize that life on earth is short compared with eternity. Life on earth is like a dress rehearsal for the actual play. Only a truly foolish man plans for uncertain riches and for everything except that which is more certain, that is, death.
Friends, God knows that He can’t have you until He has your money, because man is naturally greedy and so tied to his money. This is why John Calvin said, “Covetousness makes us the slaves of the devil”. So, God demands that we give up everything as a condition for following Him. God isn’t after your money but after you. May you not lose God.

Prayer points
1. Father, please, purge my mind of every worldly perspective of riches and deliver me from every foolishness in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, help me to serve You with my talents, treasures, and time so as to be rich towards You, in Jesus’ name.

Today’s declarations
1. I can’t serve God and money, but I can serve God with money.
2. God demands that I surrender all not because He is interested in my money but because He doesn’t want me to be a slave of anything.

Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng