Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Do you know there are many matters that people feel there should be a middle ground; we should be able to sit on the fence, we should be able to take a middle position. But many matters in life do not require a middle ground. You either fall on the left side, or on the right side — there is no middle ground anywhere. There is no middle ground to certain things, you have to make sure that you take a stand; you pitch your tent where your loyalty lies; you pitch your tent where you have your convictions steady on. And that is why we're going to look at the Scripture that helps us to understand that there is no middle ground.
Gboyega Adedeji: In the Book of Matthew chapter 6 verse 24, the Bible makes something very clear: “No one can serve two masters for either he will hate one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Very apt Scripture and very direct as well. It says, “No one can,” It has not happened before.
Gboyega Adedeji: Irrespective of your attainment.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: No matter the technological advancement, you cannot serve two masters. In the past it was not impossible, presently, it is not possible, yet in the future, it will not be possible to serve two masters. And this is the issue with it. You will either hate one or love the other. Loyal to one and despise the other. That is why it is clearly stated in the Scripture, that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart. So, there is no reservation anywhere.
Gboyega Adedeji: Nothing left.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: So, you are pitching your tent with God completely, wholly; with all your resources, all your heart, all your soul. So, what do you have left to offer to another? What do you have left to offer that will make you stand in the middle? What we are being instructed to do is that we are loyal to one side. Every human being is created and fashioned in that manner, that you are loyal to one side, that your love is for one side. So, you can’t take the middle ground that you are neither here nor there. I'm not lukewarm, for we are neither hot nor cold. You pitch a side that you want to stay, and you stay there. So, if your love is for God, then you come to God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. You are not negotiating anywhere else. You are not trying to take a stand anywhere else.
Gboyega Adedeji: Perhaps, in case, God fails.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: You're not having an alternative elsewhere. God is your first and last alternative.
Gboyega Adedeji: You know, God was not too aggressive over the matter. He didn't say you must choose Him. Remember what Joshua also said, “Choose this day whom you will serve, whether it's going to be the gods that are on the other side, that your father's served, but as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord [we have chosen the Lord].” We would be neither here nor there. We would not be lukewarm. Like Jesus said, a lukewarm church. He said He was going to spit them out of his mouth. Now, there's something that I even want us to also look at so that we can appreciate why it is important we take a proper stand, a side, and stick to it. If you read on in that Matthew chapter 6 from 31 downwards, there's something important that becomes a reason for us to pick a side early and stick with it.
See what the Bible says from verse 31 of Matthew chapter 6, “Therefore, do not worry saying What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear for after all these things The Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things”. Your heavenly Father knows because you have taken a stand. So, he knows you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things. I don't know those things that are important to you right now. “All these things shall be added to you,” but why do we struggle between God or mammon? Why do we stay at that point where we are confused; should I be committed to God or should I be committed to Mammon? It is because we worry about what we will eat, what we will wear, and what we will drink. We worry so much just like the people that don't have God, who don't believe in God. We worry like them, yet we are believers. But the Bible says what is expected of us is to seek first the kingdom of God. We will seek first the kingdom of God and not mammon, simply because we are no more on the middle ground, we have crossed over to the side of God. If we don't cross over to God's side, we cannot seek first God's kingdom. The Bible says, “You are a servant to whomsoever you choose to obey.”
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yes.
Gboyega Adedeji: And it says again, “Where your treasure is there your heart will be”. So, if you expect treasure to come to you from mammon, your heart cannot be on God.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yes.
Gboyega Adedeji: If you expect God to be the basis for your supplies. If you expect your riches, honour, dignity, and promotion to come from God, the Bible says promotion does not come from the east or west, you cannot set your mind on mammon. Whosoever your expectation is on is going to be the side you will be on. When you say you're on the middle ground that means your expectation is of no one. And that's not true.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: It is not true.
Gboyega Adedeji: You know, no one can expect from God, and also expect from mammon. Meaning you will do good on the right side, you do good on the left side, you don't want to spoil any side. What happens is that in the long run, you belong nowhere and then you are destroyed by everyone else. The best thing to do in life is to pick a side early. Don't deceive yourself by thinking God doesn’t know those who are His. If you choose God and you choose mammon, God has already assumed that you have not chosen Him.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: And the amazing thing about life is that life is more spiritual than you think. In the physical, it looks as if you can take a middle ground and you are safe. But in the spiritual, everything is opened. Everything is transparent. You are on a side. You cannot pick a tent spiritually and think you're sitting on the fence. By default, if you are not choosing God, you are already of the devil. When man fell, the default state of every man that comes into the world is of the devil. That is why it is dangerous for you to say you are sitting on the fence.
Gboyega Adedeji: You have been picked already.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Exactly. There is a common adage that says that silence means consent. When you keep silent over a matter, it is as though you have consented to it. And the same thing with this kingdom we are talking about — this side we're talking about today. When you are silent about the side you are on, it is by default saying that your silence means you have consented to the devil. That is why you must be bold; you must be audacious. I don't know what you're seeking. I don't know what you are worried about. Be it money, fame, or wealth everything God said, “Silver and gold are mine.”
Gboyega Adedeji: Cattle upon 1000 hills are mine”.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Whatever God has in His control, the devil by default tries to manipulate and create a false picture of it. But it doesn't mean that he owns it. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me,” because He went to hell and made an open show of the devil triumphing over him in all of this. I don't know what you're seeking, all of these are available in God. And that's why this scripture is so important for us to focus on today. We must stay loyal to the One that has our best interests at heart, the one that loves us unconditionally, the one that is interested in our future, who says “I know the thought that I have towards you; they are of peace and not of evil, to give you a future, and hope”.
Gboyega Adedeji: Do you know one thing that I've also realized: many of us in the church are struggling, we are not very poor, but we are not rich either. Our lives hang in a balance just like our position. But it can be changed; our lives can be changed, if only we pick a side.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yes!
Gboyega Adedeji: The truth is that those who pick mammon are not poor, especially for the time being, they are not poor. You are poor because you don’t even choose God, instead, you choose mammon you are neither here nor there.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: You're in the middle.
Gboyega Adedeji: It gets everything confusing, and supplies cannot be sent to you. Now, let's take for instance, there is a war going on currently between Russia and Ukraine. You are a soldier; if you're in that battle or part of that campaign, you're expected to belong to either of the two sides, but you go to the battlefront as a nobody but a soldier representing no country, then which government would be responsible for you?
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Where will your provisions come from?
Gboyega Adedeji: Which government will supply you; which government will shield you; which government will cover you? You make yourself vulnerable to anybody, anybody will see you as a threat. That's why it's important we choose the right side. God broadly told the people of Israel, “Choose this day whom you will serve,” God does not beg people to come to His side.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yeah!
Gboyega Adedeji: It's important that you stop deceiving yourself. The Bible says, “God cannot be mocked, whatever a man sows, he will reap”. If you don't choose God, don't blame God for your woes. But if you choose God and something goes wrong with your life, you can talk to God, “God, what is going on, I'm on your side, why is my life going like this.” Then God will tell you what could be wrong, or why you are in that situation. But you're not on God's side, and then you are ranting, shouting, and complaining, God, why is my life like this? Why is my marriage like this? Why is it that I don't have enough to eat and drink and to wear? But the question is, do you seek first God; are you loyal to God? The Bible says, “You will be either loyal to one and disloyal to the other”. You can't be loyal to two authorities. If it is found that you are a spy for two countries, any country between the two will arrest you.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: You can't be a double agent.
Gboyega Adedeji: Sometimes, to become a citizen of certain countries, they expect you to renounce your previous citizenship. So, the word for us today is that God is able and faithful. God can supply you. Do you remember the story of Abraham, Abraham defended a king, and the king was so happy and brought a lot of goodies for Abraham. But Abraham said, “No king, I'm not going to collect anything from you, lest you said, I have made Abraham rich”. The question you should ask yourself is did Abraham become poor afterwards? No, God can make you rich. The Bible says, “It is the blessing of God that makes a man rich and adds no sorrow”. What the devil or mammon can give you is riches with a lot of sorrows.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yeah!
Gboyega Adedeji: So, if we're telling you to pick a side, we're not saying the other side will not create some effect around you. They will create some paparazzi; they will create some celebrity effect around your life. But the truth is, it is not real.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: It's not real. It doesn't come with peace, rest, and contentment.
Gboyega Adedeji: It doesn’t last. We are admonishing you in the name of God, make your choice today, and let that choice be God so that you can be guaranteed and beat your chest, “I have an abundance of all things because I seek first God and His Kingdom and He supplies all my needs.
Lara Gboyega Adedeji: Yes, that's so apt. I believe that you have been challenged. I believe that you understand today that there is no middle ground in this matter and that you need to stay loyal to God. You need to love God with all… if you have been partly loving God before. This is the time of decision; to now love Him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul so that your profiting will be evident to all. Thank you for the gift of your time and we believe that you've gained wisdom. If you love this video, like it and please subscribe to this channel so that every time there is a new content coming, you will be the first person to know. Till we come again in another time on Bible in Focus, God bless you.
