“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 16:13
For those of you who don’t follow golf, you may not know about the upheaval in the world of men’s professional golf. For those of you who do, you are probably either tired of the whole discussion or anxious about golf’s future.
Brief recap: A Saudi-backed start-up tour (LIV) has been offering certain players multi-millions just to join and then enticing others with huge payouts in a reduced (54 hole vs 72) format with no cut, meaning, everyone “gets a trophy.”
One problem (among many) is that some of these “tournaments” conflict with already existing PGA tournaments of which these players are a member, forcing the PGA’s hand to decide what to do with those who want to have their cake (their millions) and eat it too (continue to enjoy the prestige of the PGA schedule when it suits them.)
Once again, the truth of God’s Word proves accurate. You can’t serve two masters. One of them will take priority over the other and, consequently, at the expense of the other.
Money, in and of itself, is not evil. It is neutral. So much good has been done by those whom God has blessed with wealth. But the pursuit of money, the addictive desire of money is problematic. It is insatiable and ultimately divisive and destructive as we are now seeing play out in the world of professional golf.
However, while what is happening in the elite sporting world might be somewhat “entertaining” for those of us watching from the cheap seats, its parallel is not.
According to multiple sources, money is the number one contributor of marital problems. Other research shows that wealthy kids are more apt to be depressed than poor ones, and seventy percent of lottery winners end up either broke or bankrupt. In addition, winning the lotto didn’t make them happier in every day life and most wound up being more miserable in the long run.
The choice Jesus gives his listeners is an either/or not a bit of this and a tad of that. We are either desiring God, His kingdom, and His desires, or we are following ours and when we are following ours, money is almost always the key ingredient to making those desires happen.
There is nothing wrong with using the money God has given us to enjoy ourselves and better our lives. But we must always ask what choice comes first: God’s kingdom or ours. And surprisingly, or not, we are much happier when we focus on His kingdom.
For those of you who don’t follow golf, you may not know about the upheaval in the world of men’s professional golf. For those of you who do, you are probably either tired of the whole discussion or anxious about golf’s future.
Brief recap: A Saudi-backed start-up tour (LIV) has been offering certain players multi-millions just to join and then enticing others with huge payouts in a reduced (54 hole vs 72) format with no cut, meaning, everyone “gets a trophy.”
One problem (among many) is that some of these “tournaments” conflict with already existing PGA tournaments of which these players are a member, forcing the PGA’s hand to decide what to do with those who want to have their cake (their millions) and eat it too (continue to enjoy the prestige of the PGA schedule when it suits them.)
Once again, the truth of God’s Word proves accurate. You can’t serve two masters. One of them will take priority over the other and, consequently, at the expense of the other.
Money, in and of itself, is not evil. It is neutral. So much good has been done by those whom God has blessed with wealth. But the pursuit of money, the addictive desire of money is problematic. It is insatiable and ultimately divisive and destructive as we are now seeing play out in the world of professional golf.
However, while what is happening in the elite sporting world might be somewhat “entertaining” for those of us watching from the cheap seats, its parallel is not.
According to multiple sources, money is the number one contributor of marital problems. Other research shows that wealthy kids are more apt to be depressed than poor ones, and seventy percent of lottery winners end up either broke or bankrupt. In addition, winning the lotto didn’t make them happier in every day life and most wound up being more miserable in the long run.
The choice Jesus gives his listeners is an either/or not a bit of this and a tad of that. We are either desiring God, His kingdom, and His desires, or we are following ours and when we are following ours, money is almost always the key ingredient to making those desires happen.
There is nothing wrong with using the money God has given us to enjoy ourselves and better our lives. But we must always ask what choice comes first: God’s kingdom or ours. And surprisingly, or not, we are much happier when we focus on His kingdom.
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