"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 mammon."
Some translations use the word money for mammon. The Jewish concept of mammon was more than just money, though. It was more about a lifestyle of collecting material possessions. I call this earth stuff.
This verse follows on the heels of "where your treasure is, there your heart is." Jesus is reminding us that our priorities matter if we desire to be Kingdom people. We cannot be true servants of God if our top priority is accumulating material possessions and wealth and making ourselves comfortable here in this earthly kingdom. It cannot be done. These are two different paths.
The issue is not so much whether we have money or material possessions or even if we are comfortable; how tightly we hang on to such things, however, is a big issue.
Picture this in your mind. The path of serving earth stuff and the path of serving God have the same starting point, but the paths gradually separate. Although they start at the same place, they end up in entirely different places. At first, we can walk with one foot on each path without much problem. But as the paths separate, eventually we must make a choice. There is a point where we can no longer walk on both paths because they are headed in different directions. We cannot truly serve both God and mammon.
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