Luke 16:13 “No servant 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.”
Remember the show, Who’s the Boss? There was always this tension in the house between Tony and Angela as to who was really in charge. Of course it was Angela; Tony worked for her. But he had gained respect as dad in the home. So you had two bosses in the home. Throw in grandma Mona and you had three. While that’s all fine and dandy on a TV show, Jesus brought the idea of multiple bosses into real life. It was during a time when he was talking about wealth and riches and money. He makes a bold statement about our heart attitudes.
He says that you can’t have two bosses. You can’t serve both God and mammon. Now mammon in many of our Bibles is translated money, wealth, or riches. But it literally means mammon. You see, mammon was a false God of riches in that time. Jesus wasn’t talking about having or using money. He was talking about heart allegiance. He was talking about the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Mammon can easily become a god to us today as well.
We work hard to earn a living. We set our minds on being comfortable and having all that we need. But we forget that God is the great and benevolent provider. We forget that we should have our hearts set on Him. We should work as though we are working for the Lord. Jesus wasn’t saying that there is anything wrong with money. The Bible says that it is the “love” of money that is the root of all evil. Not money itself. Money is just a tool. It is just a pawn in our hands that is to be used for the purpose of our calling.
Money should be working for us; we shouldn’t be working for it. We should be money’s master, not the other way around. We have but one master – the Lord. And here’s how the relationships in this verse should work. The Lord is my master, I work for Him. Money is my servant, it works for me. Let’s get this relationship right. Let’s take money’s power and honor and glory away. Then let’s give all that power and honor and glory to the Lord. It will free you.
Abundant Life 