March 1: God or money

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him. But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.”  (Luke 16:13-15 NET)

This passage was written in the days when slavery was widespread. If a man was a slave, his master had complete control over him—his time, his work, his life—everything. It would be impossible to belong to two masters. Jesus uses this comparison to tell us that we cannot serve, we cannot be a slave, to both God and money. The false god that competes with the true God most often is money. Men and women will do anything for money, but they will not do anything for God. Money is not evil in itself; it only becomes evil when it is our master instead of our servant. Money is evil when it takes the place in our hearts that should be reserved for God alone.

Notice that the Pharisees, who were guilty of this sin, sneered at Jesus. They would not accept this warning from Him, and were sure they did not have this problem; they found some way to justify themselves and what they were doing. They were the recognized religious leaders of the day, who taught people about God and were supposed to be examples. The people may have been deceived by them, but not God—He knew their inner secrets. With their mouths they were saying "We love God', however in their hearts money was their real love. 

So the big question is: Which god will we worship and serve? —the eternal almighty God who can provide for us now and forever—or the false god Money who corrupts and destroys all who love him! We need to honestly evaluate ourselves and what is of supreme importance to us. How do you use the money you receive? Do you enjoy giving to help others and the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ? 

Giving is the test of how we think about money.