ON THE VANGUARD

CONFUSED SERVANTS
“No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.”
Matthew 6:24

Don’t worry. I have no plans to take up an offering at the end of today’s devotional. If you are one of those who reads the word ‘money’ in the Bible and quickly puts a death grip on your wallet so that it has to be rescued by the jaws of life, well then you can relax today. Actually I want to dissect this scripture a little. When I woke up this morning this verse came to mind as if God was asking me what I am serving right now.
I took a few minutes this morning to look up some of the key words in this verse. Now as I will save you from a Greek lesson this morning, I would also encourage you to take the time to study to Bible in its original form. With the help of the Holy Spirit, as well as a Commentary or Concordance, the Bible can come alive.
The first word I researched this morning was the word ‘serve’. It seems like a simple word, and in looking it up, it is. Here Jesus is simply saying that no one can be a slave to or be subject to two different masters. A slave is owned, but is owned only to one master. He may do service for another person, but he belongs only to one. We, in essence, are the servant, and we cannot serve two different masters without our devotion being compromised.
Let us look at a few key words in the next section. The word ‘hate’ equals detest. ‘Love’ means to welcome or entertain. ‘Devoted’ is translated in the Greek as enduring or withstanding. And finally, ‘despise’ means to think little or nothing of. With these definitions, let us look once again at this scripture. In serving two masters we are in essence suffering an identity crisis. To each we must stay true without the other knowing. We can detest and care little for one master and then welcome and stand true to another. But then the question, are we standing true to the one who owns us, or are we standing true to the one who doesn’t? The verse ends saying we cannot serve both God and Money. The true word here is not money, but rather Mammon, which is defined as anything opposed to God. So are we serving something opposing to God; is that where our devotion and welcoming rest?
I am reminded of my younger days in third grade. Not that I really knew anything about love, but I remember having two girlfriends. The trick was to be nice to each and spend time with each, while not letting the other one know. One day, however, during lunch while holding one’s hand, the other spotted me and I knew I was in trouble. The girls didn’t turn on each other like I hoped, having a battle over me for the rights of girlfriend, but rather they both spewed their anger on me. At that young age I realized the stupidity of trying to love too many at the same time. My devotion was split and in the end they both split from me.
Are you living a double life? Are you a confused servant, not being faithful to the one who has bought you but rather secretly serving another? I urge you to check your devotion. Whether you have accepted Christ as your Savior or not, He has already paid the price for you. His death on the cross paid for you. Now He asking that you serve Him with your devotion. You must put aside the other master that is working against Him for your devotion. You cannot serve both masters, you must make a choice.