Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
This passage of scripture shows us the impossibility of harmonizing the love of money with the love of God. The two are diabolically opposed and any effort to unite the two, always end in abject failure, for as the passage correctly states, our interests will ultimately be absorbed by one or the other. The whole concept of money, in which material goods and services are valued by paper or metals, is actually foreign to God's system of dealing with His creatures, for the monetary system is a man-made system, instigated by the devil himself.
Although money can be used for good, yet the Bible tells us that the love of it is the underlying cause of every imaginable evil, and therefore we should be very careful not to let the acquirement of funds and material goods, absorb our interests to the point where God and spiritual things are held in subjection to riches.
This is what took place with the rich young ruler who was offered salvation and a place in God's kingdom by Christ Himself, who saw in the young man tremendous potential for good. When Christ was asked the question "What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life", Jesus pointed to the problem area in his life that was hampering his further spiritual development, and consequently told the young ruler that he would need to relinquish his worldly ambitions, in order that the kingdom of God and His righteousness may have precedence over the things of this world.
As the young man weighed the pros and cons of discipleship, he decided that the sacrifice was too great and he went away sorrowful, because he had great possessions. The reason for his sorrow was that he was sorry his pursuit of wealth and his desire to be saved could not be harmonized, and because of these stipulated conditions, he chose the temporal instead of the eternal, and thereby his destiny was forever sealed.
Many of us are making similar mistakes in chasing an illusive dream of wealth and material goods, by holding truth and duty in subjection to the pursuit of personal gain and temporal advantages. Many of us as Christians are so absorbed in earning a living that our sleep is taken away, and we work ourselves to the point where we can barely spend any quality time with The God who died to save us from sin. A constant round of temporal activity often absorbs the interests of many, while God and spiritual things are left for last, when we have nothing else to do.
This is not the type of relationship that will last for eternity, and therefore God is now calling on all would-be disciples to place our priorities in the right order, so that eternal realities may have preeminence over the mundane things of this life. We therefore end with a passage of scripture that encourages us to place God first in our affections, for if we do, the necessities of life will be provided abundantly. Let's read:
Matthew 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
May we always seek Christ and His righteousness first, for this is the only way that any meaningful relationship with God can be sustained on a continual basis. God bless!