Luke 16:13 (KJV)
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
I believe Luke 16:1-13 is one lesson. It begins with a steward who had wasted his lord’s goods. We are not told how he wasted them. We only know that he had been unjust in his stewardship and was now called to give an account.
The steward understood that his opportunity was coming to an end. What was in his hand would not remain there forever. So he began to act with the future in mind. His lord commended him because “he had done wisely.”
There is hope in that. The man who had been unjust did not have to remain that way. He could not recover what had already been wasted, but he could begin to do wisely with what remained.
Then the Lord brings us to the heart of the lesson:
“Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Mammon is more than money in the pocket. It includes the material things, resources, opportunities, and advantages placed into our hands. These things are not the master. They are part of the stewardship.
The danger comes when the steward begins serving the stewardship.
That can even happen in the work of God. A preacher may begin by serving the Lord, but eventually the growth of the ministry becomes more important than the Lord Himself. Attendance, buildings, finances, influence, reputation, and success begin to govern his decisions. The work becomes the master. That is the danger. What God places into our hands is to be used in His service. It is never to take His place.
Perhaps some things have already been wasted. We cannot go back and change yesterday. But we can do wisely today. Use what God has entrusted to you. Be faithful with it. Hold it loosely. Keep the future in view.
Serve the Lord with what He has given you. But never allow the stewardship to become the master. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
#DailyVisitWithGod #ServeGod #BiblicalStewardship #FaithfulSteward #Luke16v13
The Mastership Question: A Warning for All Believers
What does it really mean to serve God and not mammon? Luke 16 reminds us that stewardship must never become the master.
I’d like to hear from you: What is one area of life where Christians need to be especially careful not to let the stewardship take God’s place? Leave a comment below.
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