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DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

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Matt 6:24

24 "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.

NIV

Here is the third part of the whole statement that started with not storing up treasures on earth, then about our eyes and what they are fixed, or focused on, and now he gets right down to the issue at hand. It is impossible to love God and the world at the same time, with the same heart. Jesus is going to make a conclusion next because the very next word he says, is “therefore”. Yet we need to see this point first. This has been building up to this point about serving both God and money and now we have to come to terms with exactly what that looks like. We do get caught up in the concept of having to make a living. The problem is what kind of living do we what to make. We can choose to live a modest or an abundant one. First things first though. We must consider God’s view of the world, seeing the whole of mankind. Many countries have the same goods and services we have in America. Yet there are many, what would be considered, third world countries, or peoples who live without the goods and services of the developed world. Some peoples live with little to no electricity as well as homes with glass windows and doors. The idea of wealth, however, is universal. It simply is at different levels or has various meanings. To own more than one cow in one country would be considered to be wealthy, while for us it carries a far more expansive concept. Since we live here we need to see this loving God and money in our view of wealth, for in the eyes of many in the third world, or those countries which practice socialism or communism, the poorest American is wealthy. An example of this would be how so many Cuban and Mexican peoples make extreme efforts to live in America, to live with the ability to obtain both freedom and what they would consider wealth. However, here we are, living the life, having all the goods and services we so desire. Some have more than others. Some live in luxury compared to others. How much is too much? If we go back to the beginning, is having too much when we can store it up for our future needs? Here Jesus tells us that we cannot love both God and money. What are we devoted to? What does it mean to be devoted to God? Can we invest in the world as long as it lines our pockets with Gold, and still be devoted to God? Can we separate the two? Can we say we are devoted to God, but still store up our money for our senior years? Can we focus on both at the same time? Do we justify our investing, our saving up for financial security by believing this is how God is providing for us? Is storing up money opposed to the principle Jesus taught as recorded by Luke?

Luke 6:37-38

37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give , and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." 

NIV

Give and it will be given to you. How can we store up and give at the same time? But we have to keep or bear in mind the concept of having a divided heart or trying to focus on both God and our financial wants. We need certain things in life, just to get along. God has placed us where we are. We need a certain amount of income to continue in the lifestyle we have. The question is of course, is our lifestyle our choosing or directed and provided to us by God? Are we living where he has directed to, or have we decided where and how we are to live? This is not about whether we are rich or poor in the grand picture. Certainly God has given some a different amount in order to reach people in that kind of lifestyle. It is difficult for a person who makes a modest income to witness to a millionaire, telling them God will provide. On the other hand we have some millionaire preachers telling people God can make them a millionaire too, just keep giving your money to them and God will give them more. It is a vicious circle when it comes to God and money. We want God, but we want money too. Will he truly give us more money if we give ours away? Not sure, we better keep on storing it up, just on case he doesn’t. It gets real dicey and it is hard to truly come to terms with doing what Jesus tells us to do, when it comes to money. It seems we don’t have too much trouble with the other stuff, well at least that is what we think, but when it comes down to the money issue, we just have not grasped it fully yet. Will we ever get it completely? God and money, or is it God or money? Do we really need to choose?