“You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24 NIV
“Money promises sufficiency it cannot provide, and creates a dependency that is unreliable.”
My thoughts today are about “mutually exclusive options.”
Life confronts you with choices along the way, most of those more consequential and far reaching than you might assume at the time. Sometimes, either choice available to you may be acceptable, just a matter of preference. But what about times when your options are mutually exclusive? Every day you make choices like that, often not thinking much about it, just doing what you need to do.
The Bible says that you cannot please God and man. God’s intentions and interests seldom align with man’s. Paul understood that dilemma well. “Obviously, I’m not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10. Your own natural inclinations or pressure from others force you to choose between what man thinks best or obeying what God says is right.
Even if you try, you really cannot please everybody any time. It is best to simply please God all the time. Jesus modeled perfect obedience for you, “I always do those things that are pleasing to Him.” John 8:29 NLT. What you choose to do will reveal who you are most trying to please.
The Bible warns that you cannot love God and the world. “If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Read 1 John 2:15-17 NKJV. The world is often appealing, offering pleasures and attractions that can be hard to resist at the moment. Listen well to the Bible caution, “The fashion of the world passes away.” 1 Corinthians 7:31. Only God is eternal!
The Bible says plainly that you cannot serve God and money. Matthew 6:24 NIV. Both require an allegiance that does not permit rivals. Money suggests a sufficiency that it cannot provide, and creates a dependency that is misplaced. When not properly used, money, and the appetites it creates and abundance of stuff with which it enslaves you, can turn your heart from serving God purely with a whole heart.
You can break the attachment and power of money by using it wisely, and giving it generously. Serving God, you will always have what you need. Loving money, you will never be content with what you have. Pray for wisdom to know the right choices and a discipline to choose accordingly. I am confident that you will.
My prayer for you today is: choose God first every time; you will live without regret.