day 33: serving your master

(attempt #2 - trying to recall the original)

"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

our culture doesn't know much about having a master or serving. we are a society that celebrates individualism, independence, self-sufficiency and cannot grasp the concept of being a slave to someone or being served. yet we all have masters. we all have something that takes our time and focus. for some of us, that individualism is in way our master. many of us are slaves to money. maybe our job, our career and profession, become our master. other people - family or friends - can become a master to us. we don't usually realize it but each of us become a slave to something and it is very rarely Jesus that we are serving.

"God requires complete, abject devotion. anything else is idolatry, and it is destructive." even a good thing - even our work in the church as a pastor, youth leader, worship leader, etc. - can become a master to us if we aren't careful. the church, rather than Jesus himself, becomes our master. we have good intentions but our heart wanders. as Christians, we know that we are to serve Jesus. as the passage points out, we try to serve two masters - Jesus and riches, Jesus and fame, Jesus and fun, Jesus and...(you fill in the blank). but we can't serve to masters. one of them will get the short end of the stick and usually that is Jesus.

as i have mentioned in the past, the three missions trips i went on with the high school youth group (boston, ghana, cairo) were some of the best weeks of my life and the students would agree. it makes sense, in light of this chapter on this passage. "if we aren't consumed with money, possessions, and prestige, and if we daily seek the heart and will of God, our lives will be filled with peace, joy, and purpose."

earthly masters, whatever it may be, destroy us and leave us empty, unsatisfied, and alone. Jesus fills us. He loves us. when we serve him, we are filled with peace, joy, and purpose.

Lord, forgive me when i try to serve two masters, or worse yet, when i serve one master that is not Jesus. help me to hold on to things loosely so that i be filled with you - your peace, your joy, your purpose.