Who Do You Serve?

"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

Jesus spoke with all authority as the Son of God.  This is one of many absolute, simple statements we nod our heads in agreement with but in practice resist or reject as untrue.  We think we are able to do what Jesus said no one can do:  that we effectively can serve two masters.  The truth is we can pretend to serve many masters at once, but we cannot serve any of them fully.  I had an experience yesterday that illustrates this well.

Yesterday I did something a bit different and threw a small brisket on the BBQ.  It was a low and slow cook and historically I have always used the BBQ hood thermometer as the gauge I refer to.  This time I used a temperature probe to monitor the heat level because this prevented me from needing to go outside and check it.  It is convenient because I can work at my desk and have a real-time readout of the temperature of the BBQ as well as the internal temperature of the meat.  Generally the thermometer on the BBQ is not nearly as accurate as the probe and there can be a large discrepancy between them.  This was the case yesterday of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

George Thorogood sung, "Who do you love?" and I needed to ask myself, "Which thermometer do I trust?"  Would I go with the BBQ thermometer or the Thermopro?  Previously I had decent results by relying upon the BBQ hood, but digital probes tend to be more accurate.  I was tempted to adjust the heat to land in the middle, yet doing so was a clear indication I really didn't trust either of them.  So I went with the Thermopro reading and disregarded the BBQ thermometer.  This is a point Jesus was making:  it is impossible to serve two masters at the same time.  A master demanded total obedience, loyalty and love of his servants, and no master will be pleased with a servant with divided allegiance.  If they have divided loyalty, are they really serving him whilst moonlighting for another master or themselves?

Jesus said, "You cannot serve God and mammon."  "Mammon" is a word we never use today but what it represents is prevalent:  wealth, money, riches and property.  Jesus said it is impossible for a person to serve God and serve wealth and money.  Either we serve God with our money and stuff or we will serve our money and stuff as god.  A true servant of God will love and obey Him.  Attempts to divide our loyalty between God and the pursuit of worldly wealth will be in vain, for Jesus rightly says it is an impossible exercise.  When we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all we need He adds unto us.  There is no one more wealthy or prosperous than the child of God in this life and the next, for God who gives wealth supplies wisdom for living.

It is good when we yield to God's word, submitting to the truth He has spoken.  Instead of our lives being a declaration of our love and loyalty to God they can be likened to an argument against Him, foolishly saying we can serve two masters.  Jesus tells it like it is:  we cannot serve two masters.  The question is:  who do I love?  Who do I trust?  Who am I serving?  May our lives answer and affirm we serve God with our money, property and stuff rather than the other way round, for all we have is a gift by His gracious hand.