What did Jesus mean when He said we can’t serve two masters?
During His sermon on the mount, Jesus said this in Matthew 6:19-21, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
A few verses later in Matthew 6:24 Jesus says, “No one 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 mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].”
It really boils down to two choices that we all have to make. Either we live our lives for the Lord with an eternal perspective … or, we live in pursuit of all this world has to offer like; power, money, selfish pleasures, comfort, or whatever else we think will ultimately make us happy.
If your baseline for identifying truth is Jesus, and everything the Bible teaches us about Him … then you have a clear mandate for how you go about every aspect of your daily life. For those who reject Jesus’ offer of paying the price for your sins and being forgiven … I strongly encourage you to reconsider your baseline for how you identify what’s true, and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you.
Matthew 19:16-30 says, “Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” the man asked.”
And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’
“I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”
Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?”
Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”
There is always a risk/reward component to every decision we make, and the reward of an eternity with Jesus in a perfect place forever seems to be worth the risk of surrendering ownership of your life to Jesus here and now, and start enjoying that harmonious companionship with Him that will never ever end!!