“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” ~ Matthew 6:24 NASB

Jesus says we can have only one master. People have a sinful tendency of making idols of wealth and possessions, which then competes with God for their allegiance. The materialistic society we live in isn’t anything new, as some would have us believe. In no way were Adam and Eve serving God when they chose to chomp down on that fruit and so it has been ever since. It truly is impossible to serve two masters. As the Moody commentary puts it, “One could not have served Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler at the same time.” One of them will inevitably take precedence in our loyalty and obedience. It was pointed out to me years ago, regarding verse 24, that you could replace both instances of the word “serve” with “worship” for a better understanding. Check it out…..

“No one can WORSHIP two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot WORSHIP God and wealth.” 

Each one of us has a choice to make every moment of every day. Do I choose to worship God or do I choose to worship the world? The choice (to me anyway) is obvious. We’ve been taught that whatever we choose to serve (worship), we will spend much of our time and energy thinking about. But to the same point, whatever we spend time and energy on we will serve (worship)! Personally, I’ve turned the Bible into my hobby. I know that sounds both dreadfully religious and elitist. But if approached with a genuine heart for being the people God wants us to be, it is anything but elitist. The Holy Spirit is using my hobby to draw me closer to Him! Turning the Bible into my hobby has drawn me in to a deeper relationship with God I would have never attained any other way. Besides, I can’t think of anything better to obsess over than the Creator of the entire universe! 

~ Shalom! Shalom!