Matthew 6:22-24
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“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.
Luke 12:15
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Devotion
Jesus continues His teaching on money. He uses an analogy here to reinforce His previous comments regarding undivided loyalty to God. He says, “The eye is the lamp to the body.” Meaning the eye is the window through which light enters the body, or, more probably, that the eye enables the body to find its way. In either case, its effectiveness depends on its being sound or single. So, the “single eye” is primarily a metaphor for a life totally devoted to God.
Then Jesus makes a profound statement: “You cannot serve both God and money.” There is an ever-present danger of worshipping money rather than God. After all, the old saying, “Money makes the world go around,” is still embraced by many people today. A key word in verse twenty-four is “serve.” This word marks the true relationship existing between money and the man who is given over to it. The man imagines he is compelling money to serve him. As a matter of fact, he is serving money. This service precludes the possibility of his serving God. According to Jesus, a divided loyalty causes a person to be devoted to one master and despise the other.
Once again, Jesus is warning kingdom subjects against having a divided heart. Certainly, we need to pay attention to our physical and material needs. Tomorrow we will see that Jesus urges us to stop worrying about things so that they dominate our lives and values. We can’t do that and serve God at the same time. The Upside-Down life requires total devotion to God.
Questions to Ponder:
Do you have a divided heart? Are you trusting God completely to supply all your needs? Are you in control of your resources or are your resources in control of you? Do you work to glorify God or do you work just to pay the bills?
Prayer Points
- Praise the Lord for being your all-in-all. Praise Him for being your Provider, Helper, and for being trustworthy.
- Confess any worry you may have about your needs being met. It can be worry about the future, your health, job, co-workers, etc. that you confess.
- Ask God to enable you to glorify Him in every area of your life. Pray for an undivided devotion unto the LORD.
- Pray for Oak Pointe Church and the greater one church. That we will be extravagant givers for His kingdom.
Suggested Prayer
Lord, thank You for richly blessing me with Yourself. Thank You that I am Yours; thank You for Your indwelling Spirit. Thank You for giving me life everlasting. I declare You are trustworthy and faithful. Your watchful eye is on me. You provide for every need, and You know that need before I even ask You. Thank You, Lord, that You remind me that You clothe the lilies of the valley. How much more do you care for me? Grant me undivided devotion unto You, LORD. I want to worship You with the money that You have given me. Help me and Your church to be good and wise stewards of what You have given us. Be glorified in every area of my life. I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.