Perhaps you have heard on social media how money is the root of all evil. Of course, that is a wrongful quote, a strategy that satan uses to bamboozle those who don’t know their bible. And I hope we all know that a lack of money does not appear anywhere in the scriptures. But as I read the story of Judas Iscariot, it occurred to me that some believers may be like him. They may take poverty as an excuse for doing evil and this post is an attempt to right that doctrine.
Let us look a little farther back in the bible to where David acknowledged God as his shepherd. He declared that he shall not want. In other words, he shall not experience a lack of money or any good thing in his life. He later wrote that he had been young but that in old age, he had never seen the righteous forsaken. You may know that psalm 23 in which King David made that declaration is a song of faith. But faith was missing in the life of Judas Iscariot and he felt he had a lack of money.
Before we go on, think here about yourself since the bible was written as a caution for us. Do you go around moaning and groaning about your lack of money? Or do you jump up in the morning and praise God despite some problems? Keep in mind, the writer of Psalm 23 had lots of problems but he strengthened himself in the Lord. What about me? How about you? We move on.
Judas Iscariot Had A Lack Of Money
Judas Iscariot had a lack of money, at least in his reckoning. You know that as a man thinketh, so is he in this world, right? Well, Judas Iscariot became a traitor because he thought himself poor. As the story goes, the priests did not come to him; he went to the priests. Judas offered Jesus the Son of God up for sale. He was sure he had a lack of money and selling Jesus would make him rich.
On this blog, we only consider an account in the bible if there is a lesson in it for us. The lesson here is that Judas Iscariot was a follower of Jesus, just like you and I. We find that Judas, like all the other disciples, did not really lack any good thing. There was nothing they needed that being with Jesus did not secure for them. You cannot count the number of times the group had sumptuous dinners in wealthy homes. But none of that cured him of the lack of money that he had in his mind.
Do I consider myself poor when the bible says Jesus exchanged His wealth for my poverty already? Do I still mentally suffer from a lack of money? More importantly, do I take that as an excuse to practice evil like Judas Iscariot? Now, you may think that none of us can betray Jesus the way Judas did, since Jesus is already back in Heaven. Think again, because the bible says we can. We crucify Jesus afresh each time we fall away from the faith. How is your faith today?
Why We Might Betray Jesus
Please pay attention to this subtitle, deliberately worded this way because we do not wish to assume we will betray Jesus. But we might do so and it would not be surprising to find we regularly betray Jesus. We might not even be aware that we are doing it until a post like this post lands in our mailbox.
In your office, do you smile when somebody is saying something negative about Jesus? Or merely talking smack? You are betraying Jesus for a lack of money. It indicates your job is more important to you than Jesus is. You should wipe the smile off your face and leave without saying a word. In time, people will see you coming and change the topic. I have seen it happen so I know it is possible.
Don’t let a lack of money keep you in bondage. Poor Judas Iscariot, he thought he would be rich. All he was, was dead. Don’t be like him.
Maranatha!
