Matthew 6:19-24

¹⁹ “Do not waste your time setting aside valuables for yourselves here on the land, where moth and rust destroy them, and where thieves break in and steal them,

²⁰ but invest your valuables in the coming kingdom from the sky, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

²¹ For where your investment is, that is where your heart will also be.

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will see all the light,

²³ but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will see only darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how deep is the darkness!

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and stuff.[1] _________________________________________

The Sky Kingdom or stuff?

Everyone is going to have a certain amount of stuff. Some will have lots of stuff, others will have very little stuff. Living by the rules of the coming sky kingdom means using your stuff to further your relationship with your Father, not allowing your stuff to waste your time. After all, treasuring up treasures in the here and now is futile. Stuff is designed to be used up, eaten up or to be stolen. Investing those temporary things in God’s permanent kingdom is the only wise choice.

It is in this context that Jesus returns to the metaphor of lighting the land with our light. Getting caught up in greed and wasting our time on stuff is one way of turning our light into darkness. When the world sees covetous Christians, they cannot see the light. It is like when a person loses his eyesight.

I considered using the word “bosses” for “masters” in verse 24, but decided against it. You can actually have several bosses if you have several jobs. I do. But nobody can have two masters. Christians need to look at their bank statements and see just who they are actually serving.

LORD, we renounce the god of Stuff. We choose to invest our time and money in you and your coming kingdom.

[1] Jesus uses the name of the Syrian god Mammon to represent stuff people waste their lives on. The word sounded like the Aramaic for “what (ma) you trust in (amon).”