In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve two masters, This is a powerful call to put God first in all areas of life. One’s loyalties must be undivided. Wherever our treasure is, there will our hearts be (Matthew 6:21). We follow what captivates our hearts, and Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve two masters.
The world we live in today has shifted. 2Timothy 3:2 rightly warns us that in the last days people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful and unholy, Jesus’ call to follow Him is therefore an important call to abandon all other masters.
Preaching Matthew 6:33 to the world and current generation today will not make a mass-market ad campaign for Christianity for people now love only themselves and their money. They are boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and unholy. They consider nothing sacred. New “Religions and Congregations” calling themselves “Christian” are popping up everywhere and they preach social gospel not the True Gospel and Good news of everlasting life. The peril to true believers is not to being deceived or killed but being drawn into expressing the same sinful attitudes and conduct. Jesus says we are in the world but we are not of the world. Despite conversion, we are still capable of expressing these sins. We must be on guard!
Jesus makes it clear (Exodus 20:3) it is impossible to worship any other thing (money, self, fame, alcohol, etc) and God simultaneously, as they are incompatible. Solomon asked for wisdom first and every other thing was added to it. 2 Chronicles 1:11-12 (NCV) says “But since you have asked for wisdom and knowledge to lead my people, over whom I have made you king, I will give you wisdom and knowledge. I will also give you more wealth, riches, and honor than any king who has lived before you or any who will live after you.”
Jesus bought us with His own Blood and delivered us from our former master, sin. He doesn’t share His Throne with anyone. Luke 9:57–62 tells us about the cost of following Jesus where we follow Jesus but our devotion to Him is superficial: We want something Jesus offers, but aren’t committed (Mark 10:17–22). Other things are more important. We want to serve two masters.
In Exodus 34:14, The Lord describes Himself as a “jealous God.” This means He guards what is rightfully His. He is righteously jealous for our affections because we were created to worship and love Him (Colossians 1:16).
Opposing masters demand different things and take different paths. Whiles The Lord is headed in one direction, our flesh and the world are headed in the other. A choice must be made. When we follow Christ, we must die to everything else.
In the Parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16:1-13, Jesus used the story to illustrate a principle about wise stewardship. Jesus defines mammon as ”unrighteous” and tells his followers that mammon does not represent true riches.
Earthly wealth (“unrighteous mammon”) is temporary, but can be used to “make friends” that is support and help others come to know Christ, therefore believers should be as intelligent and clever in using their earthly wealth to further God’s kingdom as the unjust steward was in securing his own future. Faithfulness in handling earthly, temporary possessions demonstrates one’s ability to be entrusted with “true riches” in God’s eternal kingdom. One must choose to serve God wholeheartedly as the true Master
As Believers we are to handle money responsibly rather than hoarding or squandering them. Faithful stewardship of temporary possessions leads to eternal rewards. The key is having the right mindset of recognizing that all we have ultimately belongs to God, and we are simply managers of His resources. We must be faithful stewards of what God has given us.
In Isaiah 45, God promised to give Cyrus, a non-Israelite king, “treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places” to accomplish His purposes for Israel. God is sovereign and can use whomever He chooses, even non-believers, to carry out His will and advance His kingdom plans. He is not limited by human categories rather we must focus on our own relationship with Him.
We are to examine our hearts and see how faithful we are with what we currently have. Can we qualify ourselves for greater things God wants to do in our lives?
The message is one of trusting in God’s sovereign plan and positioning ourselves to be used by Him, even in unexpected ways, rather than relying solely on our own efforts and abilities. Our strength and abilities are limited, but God can lift us far beyond our own efforts if we submit to His leading.
True service to God is not motivated by a desire for recognition or reward. Jesus instructs His disciples to view themselves as unprofitable servants, meaning they have done only what was required of them and not for any personal gain or recognition. We are to recognize the importance of serving God out of a sense of duty and obedience rather than expecting any personal benefit.
When we have done all that is commanded of us, we should say, “We are unprofitable servants; we have only done our duty” (Luke 17:10). This emphasizes the idea that our service to God should be motivated by a sense of duty and obedience rather than personal gain or recognition. The servant is not thanked for his efforts because he was simply doing what was expected of him.
Believers are therefore to trust in God’s provision and to serve Him without expecting any personal reward.
In applying to your life:
- Be faithful with the little you have first, and God will entrust you with more.
- Don’t dip into the resources you have committed to God for your own purposes.
- Honor God with your finances, and He will provide for your needs.
- Pray for God to help you be a faithful steward, recognizing it is a journey
- Make a personal decision to yield your resources to God and advance His kingdom.
- Enter into a covenant with God about how you will steward what He has given you.
- Commit to glorifying God, not being driven by the love of money.
- Focus on being faithful with what you have now
- Surrendering control of your life to God, growing in faithful stewardship.
- Using our resources to further His kingdom rather than serving our own desires.
- As Believers, trust in God’s provision and serve Him faithfully, regardless of whether you receive any personal reward.
- With the help of the Holy Spirit we can remain devoted to one Master.