Money Matters: Can You Have It All?

“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)

When I was in high school, the adults in my life had a habit of telling me (and every other student), “You can be anything you want to be.” They said this as if it were a good thing. Because I lived in a free, prosperous country and had a good education, my life menu had endless options on it.

money_350Here’s what they didn’t tell me: “You cannot be everything you want to be.” We live in a “have it all” culture and “anything we want to be” easily translates itself in our ears to collecting the whole set. We want to use our lives up for God and have a comfortable lifestyle. We want to die to ourselves and look hot. We want to look hot and be pure. We want to change the world and to hang out with the pretty, funny people. We want an iPad. No, the new one.

Here’s what Jesus told me: “You can’t have it all.” Oh. “For starters, will you serve God or money?” Yes! “Nope. Gotta pick one.” But I can be anything I want to be! “True. So which will you pick?” All of the above? “Not an option. One or the other.”

Oh.

Think: What do you risk by choosing to serve God instead of money? What do you risk by choosing to serve money instead of God? What are other things you can “serve” besides God or money?

Pray: Ask God to free you from the illusion that you can serve Him and money at the same time.

Do: Make a short list of things Money tells its servants to do.