Recently, I asked him if he liked my blue (which he knows is my favorite color) shirt. He replied, “No. I like red.” Of course. What was I thinking? I told him that it, even though red was his favorite, it was okay to like other colors. That’s when his “knowledge dropper” gene kicked in, apparently. He looked straight at me and said, “No. If they are all my favorites, then I don’t have a favorite.” Yeah…he’s 4.
First I laughed it off and changed the subject. Then I decided to write it down because I thought it was clever. And a few days later, when I happened to read back over it, I realized how insightful it actually was. In fact, this was a great lesson. However, I had heard it somewhere before. But where?
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24 NIV)
Oh yeah, that’s right. Jesus covered this topic in the Sermon on the Mount. Yes, he was talking specifically about money. (Note: Jesus talked about money A LOT, just FYI.) However, this principle applies universally. Maybe your struggle isn’t with money. Maybe you are trying to serve God and recognition, God and food, God and sex, or God and pride.
You cannot serve two masters. If you try to do so, neither of them will really be in charge until you choose to dedicate yourself to one of them. And in that scenario, the only way to choose one is to reject the other. Like my son said: if they are all your favorites, then none of them will be your favorite.
What is your master?