Jesus was preaching to the crowds gathered at the Sea of Galilee. It has been said that every lesson Jesus taught can be traced back to his Sermon on the Mount. When we want our own lives to please God, we need simply to live the lessons Jesus taught that day. One of those lessons had to do with how we should value our possessions.

“You cannot serve God and money” is a familiar and difficult truth that Jesus taught. The key to understanding his message is to study the verb. Jesus didn’t say, “You cannot have God and money.” Christians just cannot serve money ahead of God. We cannot make our money our master.

Do we spend more thoughts on our money or on our faith? Do we value the “stuff” we own more than the opportunities our faith provides? What governs your list of priorities? If our money is our master, we cannot serve and please God.

We can be poor and value money more than we should. We can be wealthy and do the same. We can find our purpose in what we earn or what we are able to give. We can be devoted to our source of income or devoted to our source of life. 

None of us can live with God’s perspective on money unless Christ is our master, our King. That has always been true and will remain true until we are living in heaven. Gold is valued in heaven as pavement for the streets. We won’t need money for a house payment because we are given a mansion. We won’t need to pay for food because a banquet is provided. We won’t have to worry about serving two masters because we will always and forever have only One.

Wisdom is pleasing God. Is God your master, or is your money controlling too much of your life? We “cannot serve” both. Let’s wisely follow the teaching of Christ, repeating Joshua’s words and witness: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lᴏʀᴅ” (Joshua 24:15).