“They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin.”
When I was a young man, I remember someone saying to me, “Do what God has called you to do, and the money will be no object.” I shortened it to, “Do what you love, and the money will come.” I have preached this to my daughters over and over. I have seen a hard worker start out as a shop cleaner and rise to become the head of sales for a major oil and gas service company. All he knew was hard work, and it paid off. I have also seen certain people start out chasing money. Some have found it, but the majority seem to never catch it. We all know others who fill their homes and lives with fancy cars, fancy things, and fancy habits. While it is fun to see all that stuff, you have to ask yourself, “When is enough enough?”
Witnessing a family go through something very tragic is a rare thing, hopefully. After the shock of the bad news, you are witness to a transformation unlike anything you have seen. All focus and attention are on the child, mom, or grandparent going through “it.” The family would tell you that they would sacrifice it all just to see their loved one at peace and made whole. It is in these times when money and things mean very little. A catastrophic event can change focus for sure.
I was hit by a car while I was on my bike about five years ago. I came out of that with a slight concussion and the very real feeling of divine protection. Within hours, all my family dropped everything to be with me and see if I was okay.
While we often just cruise right along in life from day to day doing our thing, we can get caught up in all the “gold and silver” we are pressing to acquire. For the Israelites, they got caught up in the gold and silver. Life was good, and who needs God? I have all this stuff, and the party goes on. They left the daily practices of the law of Moses and moved into idol worship, spending more time at Stuffmart than with the Lord. Before you say, “We don’t worship idols, that is stupid!” recognize that the devil is plotting against you to get you distracted from the Lord.
The verse above was a ‘come to Jesus moment’ for them. All the gold and silver they had was not going to get them out of the pickle they were in. In fact, the very things that they held high, gold and silver, were no better than dirt while they were going through exile from their home. Gold and silver, or earthly goods, are not evil; they provide us with so much fun and memories. It is when these things take our focus off of the Lord God that they become the very thing that causes us to sin. Your life should be a triangle. At the top is your focus and commitment to the Lord God. At the bottom is everything else. Jesus told us to pluck out our own eye if it causes us to sin. In other words, don’t let gold and silver turn your focus away from God, because if it does, you would be better off without it. Stay focused on the Lord Jesus every day and put Him at the top of your life triangle.
Prayer: Father, I pray that we stay focused on You every day. I cast away everything that sets itself up before You in my life. I remove every idol I have erected before You (name those idols). I rebuke the devourer from my life in Jesus’ name. Satan has no hold on me or my family in Jesus’ name. I rest in the victory You have given us through the cross and the Holy Spirit. I fill my life with Your promises found in the Word of God. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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