“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:6, NIV

A great wave of revival is sweeping through the city as great miracles, signs and wonders are performed. 

Mr. Simon, the most powerful and a feared witchdoctor in the region, is one of the thousands who ‘get saved.’

He becomes a faithful member of the new Church –doing everything that believers in Christ do.

In due course, two of the top Bishops come from the headquarters to offer some much-needed spiritual support to the new church.

On learning that the new believers are yet to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they lay hands on them and everyone instantly receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Wow! 

Being an experienced businessman, Brother Simon sees an investment opportunity or the possibility of what personal finance trainers would call a new ‘income stream.’

If he could also lay hands on people and everyone receives the Holy Spirit at  a fee, it would be an incredible source of cash flow.

Indeed, he would make loads of money to ‘support’ the work of God and the new Church, in addition to acquiring nice cars, clothes and posh houses that ‘glorify God.’ 

Immediately, he runs home, withdraws all his savings and brings the money to the Bishop. “Bishop, please take this money and give me that spiritual power,” he pleads in earnest.  

This is not fiction; it’s a true story as recorded in Acts 8:9-24.

As the Amplified version puts it, “those who crave to get rich [with a compulsive and greedy longing for wealth]” usually end up in a deadly mess, like Mr. Simon did. 

Apostle Peter could not believe what he was hearing from Brother Simon. What? Is this man truly a believer or a pretender – a wolf in a sheep’s skin? He wondered.

Immediately, he remembers how he abandoned his own fishing business and family to follow and serve Christ and how he sold his own land and property to support the ministry.

“May your money perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s free gift with money,” Peter tells Mr. Simon indignantly.

“You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. I perceive that you are poisoned by bitter jealousy and in bondage to wickedness” (see Acts 8:20-23).

From Peter’s rebuke, it is clear that Mr. Simon’s wrong attitude to money had its roots in his heart. Christ was not yet Lord of his life and his heart was not in right standing with God. 

In the contemporary Church today; we tend to think of wickedness only in terms of sexual sin, and of ‘bondage’ only in terms of ‘generational curses.’

Consequently, it has actually become quite normal for religious leaders to amass wealth (and winning acclaim for it) by giving God’s free gifts in exchange for money. How sad.

Our meditation today admonishes us to “keep our lives free from the love of money.”

In some versions, “love of money” is translated as “covetousness,” which is a form of bondage.

According to the apostle Peter, Mr. Simon’s main shortcoming was covetousness, which according to 1Timothy 6:9-10, is the “root of all evil.”

But is being rich and living a comfortable life a bad thing? Of course not; Jesus was rich but He became poor so we could be rich (2 Corinthians. 8:9).

But as the Amplified version puts it, “those who crave to get rich [with a compulsive and greedy longing for wealth]” usually end up in a deadly mess, like Mr. Simon did. 

The message is clear – covetousness and filthy lucre are a subtle indication that we don’t truly trust God enough to take care of our needs, though He promised never to leave us nor forsake us.

Prayer:

Lord, I know you as Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. May my heart never be swayed by covetousness. Help me to be a blessing to the world rather than craving for the world’s fleeting treasures, in the Name of Jesus, Amen!