Matthew 6:24 & Lk 16:13: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
1 Kings 18:21 – Follow God or Baal, a false god
James 4:3–4 (NASB95): “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God”
Galatians 1:10: “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.”
(cf. Deuteronomy 12:32, 13:1)
The Pharisees believed that one’s material wealth directly reflected their righteousness.
When someone suggests this today, I ask if they believe that wealthy leaders of drug cartels & the mafia are extra righteous. Yes, these leaders can repent & be forgiven!
Wealth is good as long as it’s not our foundational motive, our object of worship. Loving & serving God is our foundational motive & the only one whom we worship.
Are your heart, mind, soul, & eyes locked onto Jesus Christ?