No One Can Serve Two Masters

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

“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 money.” (Matthew 6:22-24 ESV)

Our eyes are what we use to see things physically. But the word “eye” can also be used more figuratively to mean to judge, watch, observe, discern, and perceive. And this has to do with wisdom (or lack thereof) and good sense (or not). And both the literal and the figurative meaning of the word “eye” can be in combination together, too. For we need to be people of good judgment who discern rightly as to what we should be watching and not watching. And both can impact our spiritual health.

For example, sexual immorality is running rampant in today’s modern gatherings of what is called “church.” And much of that is centered in so many people’s addiction to sexually explicit and/or sexually charged and seductive videos, movies, cartoons, or still pictures. Especially with the creation of smartphones, many people, including children, have 24/7 private access to a whole world of evil on these pocket size devices in the privacy of a corner of a room, even a crowded room.

But this isn’t just about sexual immorality, although that is huge. This has to do with us using good judgment and discernment about all things in life, such as in decisions we make, and the people we choose to hang out with, and the activities we involve ourselves in, and how we spend our time, etc. Do we have good sound and biblical judgment and discernment? Or is our judgment bad? Do we guard our hearts and minds and eyes and ears from what is evil? Or do we “play with fire”?

Now if our judgments (discernments) and viewing are contrary to the will of God for our lives and in the category of what the Bible teaches is evil and sinful, then our eyes are bad. We have bad judgments and sense and discernment, plus what we are viewing is bad and spiritually unhealthy. And since we live in a world and age of technology where viewing and listening to music, stories, teachings, and all that is entertainment is available around the clock, and in much privacy, there is much temptation toward evil.

And so if we are going to use these electronic devices, we need to be people of integrity and uprightness who exercise much self-discipline in making sure that what we are taking in and how we are spending our time is not against the Lord and against his word and is not what is sinful and wicked. But this isn’t just about technology, but this covers all aspects of our lives in how we live them and in our attitudes and words and actions, and in how we treat other human beings, too, and how we treat God.

And what is light? It is Jesus Christ, it is the word of God, it is truth, and it is righteousness and holiness. So if we have healthy eyes, spiritually speaking, it is because we are those whose lives are surrendered to the Lord Jesus to do his will, and we are obeying his commands, in practice, and we are following him in his ways, and sin is not our practice, and we don’t “play with fire” and “test fate.” So we are full of Christ and his righteousness and holiness and truth, and his word is being lived out in our daily lives.

But if our eyes are bad, that means that we are walking in the ways of the flesh and not in the ways of God. We are living in sin and for self and for self-pleasure and not for the will and purpose of God for our lives. So then our lives are filled up with all that is evil and of this sinful world and of the flesh and not of God. Thus, our truth is not the light of God and of his gospel message, but our truth is of the evil one. It is all that is deceiving because it gets so many people to follow its ways instead of the ways of God.

But the sad reality of this is that so many people who are walking in sin and who deliberately and habitually sin against the Lord, and against other humans, even against those they are supposed to love, they are those who profess Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives. So the light that they think they have within them is really darkness, because they are walking in the darkness and not in the light of the word of God, and not in walks of obedience to the Lord and to his commands. And that is a sad reality!

But so many of them think that they can do both – live in sin and still have Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But we cannot serve two masters. We can’t have Jesus in our pockets, expecting him to always be there for us, and that he will send us to heaven when we die, but while we ignore him and his teachings in favor of going our own way and living however we want. It is either/or, not both. Either we are walking according to the flesh or we are walking according to the Spirit, but we cannot do both.

So, it all comes down to where are hearts are. What is stored up in our hearts? What are our practices? For what we practice is who we are and what we will do and where we will end up. For if sin is our practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, then we are not in fellowship with God, we do not know God, we are not born of God, and we will not have eternal life with God unless we repent, in truth, and we turn, and we now follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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