“…‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”
Matthew 4:10 NKJV
Have you seen any movies about rapture? After showing the great horror and confusion that envelopes those who are left behind, the scene swiftly cuts to the unveiling of the antichrist, his new government and the mark of the beast, and then true horror begins.
This is the image we have about the antichrist — scary but a figure too distant in the future to concern us. News flash: there are already antichrists in our day. There will be a power that will rise as ‘The Antichrist’ in the last days but the Spirit of the antichrist is already at work and has existed since the fall of the first Adam.
Anything and anyone that is competing for the place of God in your life is an “antichrist”. If it seeks to command your attention away from God, it is an antichrist. To this end, you must guard your heart against distractions. You must discipline yourself from desiring wrong things. Consecration is not for its sake! It is to protect us from actions, activities, attitudes and habits that can destroy our lives.
One of such things that compete for the place of God in your life is the love of money. Jesus said:
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Luke 16:13 NKJV
Apostle Paul also said:
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
I Timothy 6:10 NKJV
You have to choose!
Does it mean we should flee from making money? No! On the contrary, make as much money as possible, but put it in its place — a tool for facilitating the right things. As a believer, money must not be left idle in our hands, we must use it! It’s for missions! With the ambition Jesus gave to us, we cannot afford to let money rule over us. (Matthew 28:19)
If you are working harder to make more money, let it be because you want to win souls. The world is well aware of this, they pump money into antichrist-like projects and gain top-of-the-mind priority in our lives. You leave church on Sunday, and the rest of the week, you are bombarded with information that is contrary to everything good and godly. We must rise to the occasion. The world must not produce better content than us.
Live your life as someone for whom Christ died. Expose the works of darkness. Wherever you find yourself, whatever platform you are privileged to stand upon, make sure you distinguish yourself. Choose Christ.
DO THIS: Spend time praying today about your purpose and assignment. Be open to insights from the Spirit on how to influence culture with the gospel.
Bible Reading Plan: John 7: 45-53, 2 Peter 1:12-21, Job 2, Ezekiel 4-8