Matt 6:24

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" Matt 6:24

Picture this. I knew a man who had two jobs. Both employers want this fellow to work weekends. Not only do they want him to work weekends, they want him to work the same hours on the weekend. Obviously this guy has a problem. He is trying to satisfy two bosses and it is impossible.

His situation is a bit like the little boy who was sitting on the fence between two turfs with a mean massive dog on each side. Which way was he to go? If he jumped off to the right, the black dog would get him. If he jumped to the left, the brown dog was waiting. The only thing he could do was try to shimmy down the fence to a place where there was no dog and not fall off before he got there.

We do that sometimes. We straddle the fence trying to take advantage of two different worlds. We may have an alcohol problem, but we think we can drink wine with a meal and not get into trouble. Ask any recovering alcoholic if that is possible and the answer is likely to be a resounding, "NO!" Is it possible for someone trying to kick the cigarette habit to wean himself off the weed one at a time? Possible, but not likely. Is it possible to lose weight and keep it
off by not eating? Not without a serious lifestyle change involving increased exercise (I know because I have lost weight over the past year, but they seem to find me every time and bring a lot of friends back with them!

Jesus was right; we cannot serve two masters. Oh, we may get by with it for a time, but eventually one or the other will take control and we will invariably loose because the fleshly master will have the greater draw. We will love the one and hate the other.

One last word: if we desire to serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, we must continually break our ties with Satan. Just like losing weight, stopping smoking, quitting drinking, we will have a struggle on our hands and it may be a prolonged struggle. But this is a battle we can win, if we are willing to choose the right Master. If you are struggling today, choose Jesus. He is the only Master who can help you win the war and His victory parade is out of this world! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.