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J esus
is talking about balance in our lives. Just before this passage he
has spoken the famous line, "where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also." Now this, "you cannot serve God and wealth."
Clearly he was concerned that, as new followers of God, people would
not have a clear understanding of priorities. In our society this
is no less a danger. We live in a culture that values material
success above all other things. There is nothing more important
than the big house, the nice car, the beautiful clothes etc. But
Jesus is reminding us that we cannot have it both ways. We cannot
be fully devoted to following Christ will simultaneously committing
ourselves to the pursuit of wealth. At some point the two will
become incompatible.
So which will give? If we take a long range view of things, it is
an easy decision. Our ultimate allegiance is to the eternal,
timeless God we worship. Yet in the heat of the moment, we often
choose to serve wealth instead. As we journey through Lent towards
Easter, now is a good time to rethink our allegiances and our
loyalties. What more could we do to serve God? In what ways are we
too subservient of wealth? Do we accept Jesus' challenge to make
God the focus of our lives? To help in your thinking I will leave
you with this image which helps me a lot. I don't think of my
priorities as a ladder with God on top, then family, job, etc... I
think of my priorities as an old-fashioned wagon wheel, each prong
something that matters to me. And the hub of that wheel is God,
from which all other priorities radiate. Jesus is not saying that
we should never care about money or wealth, he is saying that it
should never be the hub of the wheel. If we make our financial
decisions as people of faith then we will find, at the end of the
day, we have spent our lives serving God.
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Prayer: Holy God, help me to serve and love only you. I
ask for your help in making you the most important thing in my
life. I pray in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
[Phil Blackburn, First Presbyterian Church]
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