Text- Matthew 6:24 – “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon”
Mammon is a word in Hebrew, ממון ,and it literally means money. A close derivative in Slovak, mamonár is used to refer to a greedy person. So essentially, mammon is defined as wealth that has become an evil influence or a false object of worship and devotion.
Mammon was taken by medieval writers to as the name of the spirit of greed and covetousness, and in the New Testament, as is used in out text, it refers to money, material wealth or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain. In this sense, Mammon is the god of material things and the idol of greed.
I want to make it crystal clear before I proceed with this teaching that wealth, or money as the case may be, is not the problem. Money is good, and there is nothing bad with having money. The problem arises when a man allows money to become a bad influence, or a false object of worship and devotion.
So then, money/wealth/possession in itself is not evil in nature. Money is amoral; it has no soul, so it is incapable of taking on moral qualities such as good or bad. The moral quality that money, wealth and possessions assume is largely determined by the person that is entrusted with it – His perception about money, the means by which he acquires it, and his financial practices.
You see, Interestingly, Jesus talked very much about money. In fact, more than almost everything else he talked about during his earthly life and ministry. Jesus said more about money than he did about love, faith, grace, forgiveness, hope, etc. In fact, He talked more about money than heaven and hell combined!
Sixteen of Jesus’ thirty-eight parables were concerned with how to handle money (11) and possessions (5). There are 3779 verses in the gospels; about one out of thirteen of these verses (288 in all) deal directly with the subject of money.
The entire Bible contains about 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions. God knew too well that humans need a lot of instruction, direction and clarification on money matters, and He didn’t hesitate to give us as much as is needed, necessary and relevant.
But then, contrary to what is rampant today, Jesus did not discuss how to amass wealth unto oneself and hoard it; He did not tell people that their personal worth was dependent upon material/financial wealth and multiplicity of possessions.
Jesus taught us to view money from the perspective of being a faithful steward of God over it. Beloved, are you worshipping and serving mammon, or you are a faithful financial steward to God?
PRAYER
Lord, I choose to love you and hold onto you. I choose to serve you with my finances and material possessions. Help me to be a faithful steward of the financial and material blessings you entrust me with in Jesus Name.