#DailyDevotion Do You Hate Your Wealth Enough To Share It With Your Pastor?

Gal. 6:6-10 ⁶If someone teaches you the Word, share all your good things with your teacher. ⁷Don’t make a mistake; you can’t fool God. Whatever you sow, you’ll reap. ⁸If you sow to please your own flesh, you will from your flesh reap destruction. If you sow to please the Spirit, you will from the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹Let us not get tired of doing good. At the right time we’ll reap if we don’t give up. ¹⁰So whenever we have a chance, let us do good to everyone but especially to the household of believers.

While wealth, money etc. are filthy lucre which commands our worship or at least we give ourselves in worship of it to gain it, Paul tells us to do something else with it. He tells us to share it with our pastor (you know, the guy who teaches you the Word). Your wealth is the good thing he wants you to share with him. Jesus says in Luke 16, ⁹“And I tell you, with the money that’s often used in wrong ways win friends for yourselves so that when it’s gone, you’ll be welcomed into the everlasting homes.” He also says in the same chapter, “You can’t serve God and money [mammon].” If you keep your wealth to yourself you are serving mammon. If you give it to you pastor, who serves in the stead and place of Christ, you are worshiping God. But not just your pastor (but he is the subject here) but also to the poor, the widow, the orphan and the foreigner. Don’t worry about what your pastor is going to do with it, he’s answerable to God. But in giving your good things away, you show your contempt for them and your love for God.

Paul reminds us here, “Whatever you sow, you’ll reap. ⁸If you sow to please your own flesh, you will from your flesh reap destruction. If you sow to please the Spirit, you will from the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Paul says in 1 Cor. 9, “⁹The Law of Moses says: ‘Don’t muzzle an ox when he’s treading out grain.’ Is God here interested in oxen? 10 Surely He has us in mind. This was written to show us when we plow or thresh we should expect to get a share of the crop….¹⁴In the same way the Lord has ordered that those who tell the good news should get their living from the good news.” If you keep your wealth to yourselves you are sowing to the flesh and will reap destruction. If you give your wealth to your pastor (and others in need) you are sowing to please the Spirit from whom you will reap everlasting life. Not that giving earns you life, but it is a faithful response to hearing the free gift of eternal life won and given to you through Jesus Christ. Having contempt for wealth and giving it away shows your love for God as you give to those whom God loves. As Jesus says in Matt. 25, “I tell you the truth, anything you did for one of My brothers here, however humble, you did for Me.”

Now to not giving up in doing good, Paul encourages us to not do that. We have a promise we will reap if we do so. Not only to the teachers but to all people especially believers are we do good. For the non-believers, we are to love them as we love ourselves. To our fellow believers, we are to remember the Law of Christ and love them as Christ has loved us. As we have to the chance to do good let us do so as opportunities to worship our God who gives us every good gift from above. This is good and pleasing to him. This is staying awake as we await the return of our Master Christ Jesus who will have us lay down at the table, remove his cloak and serve us on the Last Day if we will but serve him by serving others.

Heavenly Father, grant us faith to treat wealth with contempt and you with such great love that we give it to those who teach us your word so we may then reap the benefits you promise us on the Last Day in your eternal kingdom and also so we may continually do good as you give us opportunity. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.