“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Psalm 37:25
Serving the Lord in righteousness and true holiness is the best thing we can do with our lives. God desires his creation to be as he is, holy. If we are holy then it follows that we must be righteous. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, can abide in a willing heart, making them holy and guiding them in righteousness. With Christ in you, you can have assurance in this life and the one to come.
As people, we are anxious and full of fear. The world offers artificial comforts, condolences, and assurances but it all comes at a price. It is in man to commit his abilities to laying up treasures for himself and the devil makes no effort to prevent this. The Bible teaches us to be industrious and provide for our own; yet, it is important to recognize that there is no amount of possessions that can compete with the safety and security that is in Christ. It costs nothing to endorse that Jesus is our safety and security beyond the grave, because we know that nothing we can see, touch, or feel in this life can get us to heaven anyway. However, Christ told us that you cannot serve God and mammon (i.e. money, riches, and wealth). In saying this, he placed trusting in Christ a priority not just for life after death, but also in the here and now. We must ask ourselves. Do I trust God completely? Do I really trust him with my family, house, job, and future? Trust in God is consistently challenged by trust in riches. Our service to money is enticing because that service will yield immediate comfort and protection. For this reason the world exalts wealth and riches to a place where it ought not to be, and we buy into this because it offers artificial insurance. We are trained to believe that more money will mean less problems. Indoctrinated to think that money will provide safety, security, companionship, and refuge. Do you need proof of this ideology? Look no further than the lottery system. Millions of people gambling their hard-earned money on a chance of fortune; because it is held that fortune will eradicate the issues of life and bring comfort. While it may appease, it will never eradicate. The comfort of mammon, buy the comforts of life, which is an artificial comfort to which the natural man craves. All the while the comfort which is in Christ, anchored in righteousness and holiness, is an absolute comfort that the spiritual man craves. A comfort the world cannot afford. When the spiritual is grounded, the natural will follow suit. This is why the righteous can praise God with nothing (from a monetary aspect), and the rich curse him with everything. All the things that God wants to provide for you, and can provide, are undermined when you serve mammon, because when you serve it you exalt it to a place of idolatry. Serving it means you believe in it, trust in its power, and therefore you alienate God and bind yourself to this world. How weak a god mammon is and yet so many worship it. How much better to serve the living God and trust in Him!
Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Mat 6:33). Righteousness and holiness must be the principal aim. It comes to this; do you wake in the morning seeking to serve yourself, or serve Jesus Christ? If I am a servant of myself then I am going to do what is needed to build and protect what is mine. Using all I can at my disposal to provide safety and security for what I have (house, car, job, reputation, children, spouse, etc.), and money is the principal resource. This path leads to unrighteousness and corruption. However, if I wake seeking to serve Christ; then I am about my Father’s business same as he. This is the path of righteousness and holiness. It will cost me what I have built, but that is no matter, because the riches in Christ far outstretch the riches of mammon. The comfort of the Spirit abides deeper, than the comfort of the world, and you have assurance in this life and the one to come; because the righteous are never forsaken nor their seed begging bread.
