By Guang Zhao, Malaysia
In a meeting, I told brothers and sisters about my situation and then a sister read to me a passage of God’s words, “‘Money makes the world go round’ is a philosophy of Satan, and it prevails among the whole of mankind, in every human society. You could say that it is a trend because it has been instilled in the heart of every single person. From the very beginning, people did not accept this saying, but then they gave it tacit acceptance when they came into contact with real life, and began to feel that these words were in fact true. Is this not a process of Satan corrupting man? … Something is revealed through the human disposition of the people in this world, including each and every one of you. How is this thing that is revealed to be interpreted? It is the worship of money. Is it hard to remove this from someone’s heart? It is very hard! It seems that Satan’s corruption of man is deep indeed! So after Satan uses this trend to corrupt people, how is it manifested in them? Do you feel that you could not survive in this world without any money, that even one day without money would be impossible? People’s status is based on how much money they have, as is the respect they command. The backs of the poor are bent in shame, while the rich enjoy their high status. They stand tall and proud, speaking loudly and living arrogantly. What does this saying and trend bring to people? Is it not true that many people make any sacrifice in the pursuit of money? Do many people not lose their dignity and integrity in the pursuit of more money? … That is to say, this saying already controls your behavior and your thoughts, and you would rather have your fate controlled by it than give it all up. Does not the fact that people act in this way, that they are controlled by this saying and manipulated by it, illustrate that Satan’s corrupting of man is effective? Is this not the philosophy and corrupt disposition of Satan taking root in your heart? If you do this, has Satan not achieved its goal? (Yes.)”
After reading these God’s words, I realized that the reason why I had been pursuing money so persistently for so many years was that I lived by Satan’s poisons, such as “Money is first” and “Money isn’t everything, but without it, you can do nothing.” I placed money above everything and thought if we had money, we could do anything, if not, nothing could be done. In order to earn money, I dropped out of school at a young age to work. No matter how hard or risky the job was, I would do it as long as I could earn money, not caring if my life was in danger. To earn more money, I tried to get quick cash by speculating in stocks; yet when the stock market took a nosedive, emotionally, I fell to my lowest point and even wanted to commit suicide. I saw that I really was a slave to money. At the same time, I saw that Satan has used various methods to corrupt humanity and made us pursue money. One of the methods is tempting us to invest in stocks. Many people want to get rich by investing in stocks and their hearts become more and more greedy; instead, so many people have failed, losing everything overnight, and even committed suicide. In today’s society, in order to get money, we become unscrupulous and fraudulent, intrigue against and deceive each other and so on. The pursuit of money has made us more and more depraved, evil and further away from God’s requirements. In the end, we would be captured by Satan. These are Satan’s tricks and purpose to devour humans. In the past when I believed in the Lord Jesus, I tried to change this way of pursuing, but there was always a desire of getting money in my heart no matter how hard I tried not to think about it. If God’s words did not reveal the root of the problem, I would be living forever in the bondage and affliction of Satan’s venom and going on the path of destruction.
Afterward, I read another passage of God’s words, “If people have a genuine understanding of God’s disposition, and can give heartfelt praise to His holiness and righteousness, then it means they truly know Him and possess the truth; only then do they live in the light. Only once a person’s view of the world and of life changes does one undergo a fundamental transformation. When one has a life goal and comports oneself according to the truth, when one submits absolutely to God and lives by His words, when one feels peaceful and illuminated to the depths of one’s soul, when one’s heart is free of darkness, and when one can live entirely free and unrestrained in God’s presence, only then does one lead a genuine human life, and only then has one become a person who possesses the truth. In addition, all the truths in your possession have come from God’s words and from God Himself. The Ruler of the entire universe and all things—God Most High—approves of you as a real person living a true human life. What could be more meaningful than God’s approval? This is what it means to be in possession of the truth.” These God’s words pointed out to me the way of practice and the direction of pursuit. At that moment, I felt it is such an honorable thing that I was born in the last days, and am chosen by God to pursue the truth and live for God. Over the past years, I was always busy earning money, and I had experienced a lot of ups and downs. In particular, the stock crisis I experienced this time made me realize that I will be trapped tightly by Satan if I am pursuing money blindly. If I did not come before God and accept the salvation of God’s words, I would never be able to break free from Satan’s control. Only by rejecting Satan’s rule of survival and living by God’s words, can we obtain true freedom. Living in this way is of value and meaning.
Since then, I read God’s words every day and often have meetings with brothers and sisters to fellowship about the truth. When I have something I don’t understand, I will pray to God and seek His will together with brothers and sisters, using God’s words to solve problems and difficulties I face in life. Gradually, I become more thirsty for the truth, and am willing to spend more time pursuing the truth. My life is very peaceful. Although I’m not well-off and the stock market is also experiencing ups and downs, I’m no longer bothered about my gains and losses and racking my brain to think of ways to earn money as before. It is God’s word that has made me able to lay down my pursuit of money, not be bounded by it and live freely without constraints. I’m glad that I can walk on this luminous path of life. Thank God! All the glory be to God!
The End.
Part One: God’s Words Guide Me to Stop Being a Slave to Money(Ⅰ)
