No man 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.
matthew 6:24
What is Mammon?
I wondered for a long time about that word mammon. Why didn’t Jesus just say money?
According to Strong’s, the term mammon means “the treasure a person trusts in”. How does one know if they are truly putting their trust in God the Father and not the “god of this world”. Who forgets their wallet and says, “its cool Jehovah-Jireh will foot the bill”. I mean that sounds real nice and all, but is it possible. Well, it depends on who you’re asking, but the focal point here is that we as believers are suppose to be believe that God will supply all of our needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
This is why the Lord says that it is impossible to please Him without faith. There are a number of things that we can put our faith in to supply our needs, but what we really need is a faith that says “Lord, I need you to do what I cannot do for myself, because You alone have the power to do for me what money cannot do.” We have to remind ourselves that no matter how hard we work, or how smart we invest, it is Him who empowers us with the mind and the strength to do theses things, and the moment that we think that we are doing it, the spirit of mammon is seeking to take control.
Mammon was the name of a Syrian god, “a god of riches”, and so when Jesus spoke about mammon, He was talking about a concept goes a bit beyond the concept of money because the implication is that if we put our trust in money, in the place of God to solve our problems, fulfill our desires, and meet our needs, then we are serving the god of mammon. And no one can serve both God and mammon. We must cling to the One and despise the other.
The spirit of mammon seeks to usurp the authority of God in our lives and sit on the throne instead. But the Lord says seek Him first, and we will have what we need (whatever that need may be). That is a lesson that the Lord sought to teach the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness.
Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
deuteronomy 6:1-3
Obedience Is the Key to Abundant Living
Those Israelites were not hearing it. They had rather go back to slavery then to press forward into the things of God to receive the promise. It is a journey indeed. But we must remember that we only have to take it one day at a time, and He will show us the way.
When we seek to honor the Lord in everything, including our finances, He promises to increase us (us and our children), so that we don’t have to serve this world’s system that runs counter-clockwise to God’s Kingdom. How do we go from this world’s system to that abundant life that Jesus spoke of? Financial stewardship. Being a good steward with what we have, because if we can not be trusted with what God has entrusted us with, we will not be trusted with true riches.
Scripture References: Deuteronomy 8
Grace and Peace to you!
