As Christians, we are surrounded by danger.  We need to be aware of the various tools used by Satan to defeat us.  This week we are looking at some of the things that threaten us as God’s children so that we can avoid becoming spiritual casualties in the ongoing war between God and the devil.

Something that threatens us every day is materialism.  Materialism has been defined as “a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things” (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary).  When we become preoccupied with material things, they can very easily take the place of God in our lives.  It is a very real danger that we all face.  Jesus warns us about this in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV)
¹⁹  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Those who spend a lifetime striving for material things, rarely have time to think about God.  Laying up treasures on earth will make you forget about God, and before you know it, He will be excluded from a major portion of your life.  The earthly riches you pursue will become your god.  Your heart will become consumed by them, and you will find yourself spending all of your time thinking about the riches that you have acquired and wondering how you can get more.  

There is a place for material things in our lives.  To some extent, we need them.  We must, however, avoid developing a preoccupation with them that is greater than our interest in spiritual things.  To do so is to choose the created over the Creator, and remember, we cannot serve two masters.

Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
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 money.

Notice the scope of this declaration.  Jesus said “No one can serve two masters…”  He was not talking about something that was simply difficult to do.  He was referring to something impossible to do.  We simply cannot serve two masters. While it is true that we can serve two masters who are opposed to each other successively, we cannot serve them at the same time.  This was the point Jesus was making.  We must make a choice.

The demands and desires of earthly riches are incompatible with the demands and desires of God.  God commands you to walk by faith; materialism demands that you walk by sight.  God commands that you be humble, while materialism desires that you possess a heart full of pride.  God wants you to set your affections on things above, but materialism leads you to set your affection on things on this earth.  It is plain to see that we cannot serve both God and material things.  As Jesus said, “Either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.”

The reason materialism is so dangerous is that we can see, touch, and handle the material things to which we become so attracted.  Not only that, but, we have been brought up in a world that puts a high degree of value on how much one possesses.  Material wealth brings earthly power.

We must remind ourselves that material things, as well as the power and popularity that they sometimes produce, are only temporary.  Solomon wrote, “Do not overwork to be rich…For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:4-5).

Set your affections on things above, not on earth (Colossians 3:1-2).  The spiritual riches of heaven are eternal.      

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.