双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：10月28日 万恶之根

10月28日

万恶之根

贪财是万恶之根；有人贪恋钱财，就被引诱离了真道（信）……

提摩太前书6:10

圣经并不谴责金钱或物质财富。圣经中一些伟人非常富有，亚伯拉罕、以撒和所罗门也许是当世代最富有的人。神反对的不在于物质财富，而在于物质偶像。物质主义已经成为我们太多人的神了。这种状态就是物质财富被提升到生活的主导地位，而这种地位和所受到的关注本应只属于神。

圣经教导我们，若一味追求物质财富是一种偶像崇拜。神憎恶偶像崇拜，因它毒害了我们生活的每一个层面，包括我们的家庭生活。

圣经称“贪财是万恶之根”（提摩太前书6:10），不是钱财本身，而是对钱财的贪爱。这节经文在我们今天的国民生活中得到验证，我们正在收获几代人所播种的恶果。我们至少正一定程度地承受着这种自私地专注于物质而忽视了道德和属灵价值观的后果，尤其是二次世界大战以来。

我们以为人类已经成熟，即便有神，祂也可以退居二线了。但耶稣讲了一个故事，有个人，田产丰盛，出产装满了谷仓。他说：“灵魂啊，安安逸逸地吃喝快乐吧”（路加福音12:19）。他已把神排除在外；而那天晚上他死了——可能是心脏病发作。天上传来一个声音说：“无知的人啊”（路加福音12:20）。

“人若赚得全世界，赔上自己的生命，有什么益处呢？”（马可福音8:36）？清算的日子就在眼前了，字已写在墙上了，上面写的是什么呢？

今日祷告：

天父，宽恕我们把钱财看得太重，因我们知道祢是伟大的神，祢是我们最需要的。求祢帮助我们追求祢胜过一切；奉耶稣的名，阿们。

October 28

MONEY CAN BE DANGEROUS

For the love of money is the root of all evils;it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith…1 Timothy 6:10,RSV

The Bible does not condemn money or material possessions.Some of the great people of the Bible were very rich.Abraham,Isaac,and Solomon were perhaps the richest men of their day.God’s quarrel is not with material goods but with material gods.Materialism has become the god of too many of us.It is that state in which material possessions are elevated to the control place in life and receive the attention due to God alone.

The Bible teaches that preoccupation with material possessions is a form of idolatry.And God hates idolatry.It poisons every other phase of our life,including our family life.

The Bible declares that“the love of money is the root of all evil”(1 Timothy 6:10),not money but the love of money.This Scripture is being verified in our national life today,and we are reaping what we have sown for several generations.We are,at least in part,suffering the consequences of our selfish preoccupation with material things,especially since World War II,to the neglect of moral and spiritual values.

We thought that man had come of age and that God,if there was one,could be relegated to the sidelines.But Jesus told the story of the man who had his barn full,and he had all of his possessions,and he said,“Soul,take your ease,eat and drink and be merry”(Luke 12:19).He left God out,and that night he died-possibly of a heart attack.And there was a voice heard from heaven that said,“You fool”(Luke 12:20).

“What shall it profit a man,if he…gain the whole world,and lose his own soul”(Mark 8:36)?There is a day of reckoning ahead.The handwriting is on the wall.What does it say?

Pray for the Day:

Father,forgive us for valuing money too highly,for we know that You are the great God and You are the one we need the most.Help us to pursue You above everything else;in Jesus’Name,Amen.