Advent Conspiracy Devotional: Tuesday, December 7th

Scripture: Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Reflection: Money is often a taboo subject in church, even when many other very sensitive matters are routinely and casually shared over coffee or during the prayer concerns. 

            I think this is because we often think of money and God or our faith as opposing forces somehow.  This isn’t quite true though.  The truth is that God makes it clear that we have to decide what is most important to us and what is going to be our driving and underlying motivation.  Is it going to be God and God’s will for our lives or is it going to be the pursuit of money, wealth and possessions. 

            What Jesus is making clear in Matthew 6 is not that we have to hate money or that we can’t have it or even want it.  But that they can’t be equals in our lives or in our hearts. 
            We are called to love and serve God with all of our heart, mind, strength and spirit.  With all of who we are and what we have – this includes our money, so we can’t be trying to serve it too.

Question: What or who are you serving right now in your life? 

What would it take to really begin to serve God first?