The danger of materialism can be seen by the number of biblical admonitions warning against it.  Materialism is a true threat to every child of God.  It is what causes some to have a love for money, which jeopardizes the soul.

1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)
¹⁰  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Why do some people love money?  At the root of it, is a desire for the material things that money can buy.  It might be the prestige that goes along with having an abundance of material things, or it may be the material things themselves that are loved.  Perhaps it is a combination of both, but it takes money to get them.  Because of this, many people spend their lives in pursuit of money and the things it can buy.  Jesus articulated the problem with this in the Sermon on the Mount.

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.

The word for “money” is “mamōnas,” which refers to, “wealth personified” (Strong).  We can allow wealth, and the pursuit of it, to become the god of our lives, and this is just what the devil wants us to do.  He even tried to get Jesus to fall for this scheme.

Matthew 4:8-9 (ESV)
⁸  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹  And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

Jesus simply told Satan to be gone (Matthew 4:10).  This should be our response to the devil as well.  The glory of this world cannot save us, and the truth is, it is only temporary, for the world itself is passing away (1 John 2:17).  What is not passing away is our soul.  We can overcome the devil’s temptation of material gain if we focus on what is eternal.  This is why Paul exhorts us to set on minds “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).  This is exactly what Jesus taught us to do in the Sermon on the Mount.  Before warning us that we cannot serve two masters, Jesus said this: 

Matthew 6:19-20 (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.

Let us follow the words of Jesus.  He knows something about defeating Satan.  He not only defeated the devil on the cross, but He did so in life as well.  If Jesus would have fallen down and worshipped the devil, even once, salvation would have been lost, and the devil would have won a great victory.  Thank God Jesus was victorious, and now He tells us how we can be as well.  The devil is going to tempt us with material things.  If we remember that they are only temporal, and lay up our treasures in heaven, we will also defeat the devil’s scheme.

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