Matthew 6:24  "No one can serve two masters... "    Masters - controllers... supreme in authority.   This whole chapter is leading us to this statement.  We can either do our "righteous" acts for men.. or we can worship God "in secret" by seeking Him, serving Him, and obeying His will from the heart.  We  can either hoard our resources for our selves or we can lay it all down for Him and have "treasures in heaven." We can be blinded by the darkness of sin or we can open our eyes and hearts to the Light of Jesus. 

We have to make a choice whom we will serve.  If we choose to serve God.. recognizing that He is our supreme authority.. we know He requires all - all our hearts, all our minds, and all our strength.  He is an all- or- nothing -God.. the lukewarm gets spit out.. the double-minded get nothing in answer to their prayers. The whole-hearted follower of Jesus gets the Kingdom... Hallelujah!

If we choose to turn any part of ourselves over to "mammon".. it will consume us. The things of this world will become our treasure and it will take over our hearts. We see it all the time.  The "lust of the eyes" - never satisfied.. never enough.. never content.. and never happy. 

Thankfully, we have been given the choice. 

It is not easy...especially for those who have  much.. remember the rich young ruler?  Jesus said.. "it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven... " (Matthew 19:23)  Hard, but not impossible..for "with God all things are possible.." ( v26)  It was hard for the Pharisees and Sadducees.. although they were supposed to be God's servants, they were actually serving "mammon" too.. the power of religious authority.. the recognition and respect of others..the false sense of assurance that they could do whatever they wanted and get by without God's Presence or Spirit... consumed them so much that they killed the Son of the God that they were supposed to love. 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." We are back to that basic truth about the kingdom of heaven..   The greatest in the kingdom is the one who serves..  the one who is humble..  the one who lays it all down just as Jesus did.. 

Father in heaven, be our All in all.  We choose to serve You and to be fully surrendered to Your will and purposes.  Do Your supernatural work in us that we might lay everything down.. including our own lives.. for the sake of Your Kingdom.  We take up the cross.. raising the standard of Your kingdom.. and follow Jesus... by the power of Your Spirit in us. Amen.