Friday, January 9, 2015

Serving Two Masters

"No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will devote himself to the one and despise the other; You cannot serve both God and money." -Luke 16:13


     School, sports, social activities, hobbies, and social media take up a large portion of our lives. There's nothing wrong with this, of course. There's nothing wrong with learning or doing the things that you enjoy, but what are the things that are off to the side? What are the things that often get pushed to the side in our busy schedule? Unfortunately we get home from a long day sometimes and it's just so easy to say, "Oh, I don't have time for Bible study today." Or, "I just am too tired to pray tonight." Is God really your master? Or do you serve something else? Is your main goal in life to get the best grade? The best job? The best scholarship? 

     God says that man can cannot serve both man and money (or mana, as some versions say), for a good reason. Just about everything we do in life that isn't in service to God is usually in attempt to gain money. We want to get good grades so we can go to a good college and get a good job. We want to get experience working while we're young so when we get older we can have a better job. Money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10) and it shouldn't be our life pursuit. Now don't get me wrong, money itself isn't evil, but money is the root, the ambition behind evil. There's nothing wrong with having money, and there's nothing wrong with having a job. We need to make sure that we don't have to rely on others, and if we do have money, we need to make sure and use it to help the kingdom grow. Even Solomon in all his wealth and wisdom wasn't happy, and ended up serving other gods.

     Now, having said that, what is your goal? What is it that you, as a person, pursue? Is it heaven? What are your priorities? What is it that you strive for? Do you run the race as if to win? Or do you beat the air aimlessly, never really trying to do any real work for the kingdom (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)? Today I would like to encourage you to look at your priorities and instead of taking time out of your day to read the scriptures, take time out of your day to do the other things. Change your perspective, and serve God above all things, not money or grades or work. Always make God the foundation of your time, not the filler between the bricks.