We Can Only Serve One Master

Finding Freedom by Choosing God in a Money-Obsessed World

I’m working on adding an additional section to Order Within which will focus specifically on my writing, so people can decide whether they want the podcasts, writings, or both.

I’m so grateful for you to be here! I hope you enjoy this weeks’ piece.

Our financial yoke

Bills, debts, and burdens. So many of us deal with this. It got the best of me this week and I threw a pity party. I was praying to God, when it hit me. I despise money. It's always felt like such a burden and point of contention in my life. Resentment for needing such a corrupted means of exchange. The obsession our society has with it. I've had to manufacture my care for it.

But then I started reading the Bible and discovered this isn't new. The struggle of two masters. I've wrestled with this notion for most of my life and didn't realize it.

"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

But here we are, in a world that worships money above all. This puts God's people in a tough spot. We need money to live, but we can only truly serve one master. It's easy to justify and come up with reasons and qualifiers on why we have to pursue money. But nothing we say can make God less important than money. No matter what.

This struggle is real

I think many of us feel it. The burden of it all. It's a heavy yoke. Cost of living, inflation, taxes, debts, interest rates, credit cards, on and on...

We live in a debt-based society. Even our currency is based on debts. This creates tension between our monetary system and our lives. When you layer in the exploitation that takes place at all levels of the market, you get a full-blown system of oppression.

Don't worry, this isn't an essay on economies or systems of finance. Just a reminder that the financial system is designed to keep us on the treadmill of life chasing visions of wealth and splendor. The intention is to suck us into this system to never find stillness to connect with God.

This is the dynamic of serving money as our master. It will be a never-ending pull for more. It's deceptive and has captured the entire globe.

It's also deeply unfulfilling. It brings false security and anchors us to the material plane. So we have to be mindful of the master we serve. For years I worshipped money in my mind but in my heart I hated it.

God's world has been imprisoned by this financial system. This is the challenge of being Christian. Being in the world but not of it. This realization has weighed heavily on my heart for years.

But it wasn't until recently that I started finding hope and that is all because of God.

My eyes are on Him now. It's still hard. It's still corrupt, but with Him we can handle everything.

Dependence on God

For years I made the mistake of trying to do everything on my own. I took pride in it, but boy did I suffer. Life was so hard. Unnecessarily.

God is our salvation. He is our refuge.

Can you tell I've been reading Psalms?

We are not made to do things without God. It's unnatural. It creates tremendous suffering and struggle. Look at our world. Depression, anxiety, loneliness...

People feel hopeless.

It's rough.

But we've disconnected ourselves from our Maker. How can we not suffer?

But we live in an ego-centered world. One built around the self.

Self-Worship

What many do not realize is the self-idolatry our world obsesses over is Luciferian in nature. Because we've become so lax in our spiritual beliefs, we no longer take the presence of evil seriously.

This makes us vulnerable to ideology and influence.

Self-worship is an example of this. Lucifer believed he was better than God. So he rebelled against His Kingdom. Self-worship is the continuation of this rebellion. It's tragic because it's become so normalized.

I fell for it too. This journey is driven by my own experience. I mean, look at all the episodes on my podcast. A lot of it is built around the idea of self. Doing things on our own. The rugged individualist. The successful entrepreneur. The comeback story.

Rarely do we bring God into the picture.

It's so refreshing when people do. We're seeing a return to God.

The Return to God

We need God more than ever. His creation and the world He gave us to look after has been overtaken by darkness. It's so entrenched, that people don't see it.

It's tragic, but there is hope. God awaits us. Always. He never leaves us. He loves us deeply. But we must turn to Him. We must humble ourselves and repent for falling off the path.

Living a God-centered life is actually freeing. It's a better way to live.

Evil has been rebranded as edgy and cool. But it's nothing of the sort. The lie is that we are free in rebellion. Darkness works through manipulation and deception. God is unchanging and ever present to us. He leads us along the path of righteousness.

It can be hard to surrender

I think it's why so many reject the authority of God. We want to be the one on the throne. But what we don't realize is our greatest and most fulfilling life is found in God. It anchors us to purpose. It brings meaning to all that we do.

He desires so much for us. The Bible teaches us about the dangers of the world so we don't get lost and hurt.

Not to punish us.

I see God's wisdom as protection for His children. We don't have the full context so we need help.

It's just like parents with our kids. We're here to teach them to ensure they are safe. It's crazy the things kids will do not realizing the harm that could come their way.

It's the same with our Heavenly Father. He sets boundaries and rules to protect us.

We've been so gaslit about God's teachings.

This is why we must read the Bible ourselves. Relying on others for Biblical wisdom is detrimental to our spiritual life. It's a critical piece to our well-being.

It starts with each of us

If we call Jesus into our life, He will lead us. We've been equipped with all we need. God designed each of us with a unique purpose. Isn't it amazing there is never a human created exactly like another?

We are all unique!

There is no challenge too big for our Creator. The darkness of this world is no match for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the true ruler of this planet. The more of us who embrace Him, the more the world will change for the better.

We are not alone.

God is good always. God's abode awaits us. Let us take the empowering leap into Him.

Thanks for reading.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.