“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24 (NKJV)

Jesus presents a challenge to us concerning our position and priorities as it relates to our relationship with God. It is clear from the passage that there is a clear choice that every believer must be willing to make. We cannot live a life of divided loyalties in the midst of a wavering and inconsistent relationship with God. To put it in a very common vernacular, “Something has to give.” We have a choice among two realities. We can serve God or we can serve mammon or our riches. The two cannot be combined or used in harmony with each other. Neither can we take a little of one and a little of the other to reconcile what we know is the truth of the expectation that God has for us. It is quite like oil and water. They just don’t mix.

The word “serve” in the passage is translated into the word “slave.” The word “masters” is translated into the phrase, “lord, and absolute owner.” Jesus is saying to us as well as the disciples of that day that no one can be slave to two owners. We cannot be a slave to the lordship of Christ and a slave to the worldly possessions of this life. We will either be sold out to Christ or become a sell out to things that have absolutely no value whatsoever. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19 (NKJV) Many are warring within themselves on how they can acquire more and more things in order to gain status, notoriety, and a sense of self worth, yet while doing so they have totally omitted from their plan a working and rewarding relationship with Jesus Christ.

Understand that Jesus is not saying that we cannot have things or riches. The idea is becoming a slave to those things and in the process losing sight of the most important relationship that we will ever be a part of in this world and the world to come. Not to mention the stress and anxiety that often goes along with trying to maintain the material things that we have become enslaved to. Joshua spoke very boldly and definitively concerning what was most important to him and his family during his closing address to the children of Israel. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15c (NKJV) The word “serve” in this particular passage suggests that one is to “give their allegiance exclusively to God” and God alone. It is a choice that we must make for our families and in all other relationships that we encounter

True prosperity is tied directly to our priorities. If we are sell outs to materialism and things then we are in bondage and shackled, unable to serve God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We cannot trust earthly riches. They cannot be depended on. “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” I Timothy 6:17 (NKJV) This is very important to understand because riches are transient. Values change, and as a result, earthly riches are only as good as present values. What is valuable today may very well be worthless tomorrow. Why not place our trust in the one who never changes? Our priority and servant hood should be clearly established in Jesus Christ. His value is far beyond compare and can undoubtedly be trusted throughout eternity.