To decide who is number one in your life God or mammon, you must first have a clear understanding of what mammon is.  Mammon is what you trust to keep yourself safe; it’s what people depend on to guarantee financial security.  Bank accounts, properties, stocks, bonds, careers are all tools that we use in this natural world to function, and utilizing these tools is certainly not ungodly.  God is not only okay with us using these systems, but He created them for our benefit.  However, when we place these systems above God or trust more in these systems than God, then we’ve made mammon number 1.  Mammon is also a spirit that competes with God for your time, energy, worship, attention, and money.  So, a summation of mammon is an attitude of pride, arrogance, self sufficient, independence from God.  It’s the attitude that, “I can take care of myself”; “I don’t need God”.  Ultimately, this spirit (mammon) will control you if you allow it.  It tells you when you can go to church, when you can spend time with your family or go to work instead, and even when you can spend time in the Word.   

In Luke 12:16-21, we see an illustration of a man who obviously chose mammon to be number 1 in his life.  It’s the story of the man whose ground brought forth plentifully, and he decided he would tear down his barns and build larger ones to house all of his goods and then just lay back and relax.  He was simply hoarding.  In the midst of him admiring all that he had, God spoke to him and told him he would die that very night; he lost his soul in the process.  The problem did not lie in him having made accomplishments or gaining in life, but rather storing up earthly wealth and choosing not to have a relationship with God.  He chose mammon over God, and he had security in what he provided for himself.

There are severe consequences to choosing mammon over God.  In Matthew 6:19, Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal”.  He’s warning us not to hoard and establish our future’s security on what we provide for ourselves.  In the event that we do this, the consequence is us being subject to the world’s economic issues (inflation, depression, banking crisis, etc.), which Jesus referred to as moths, rust, and thieves.  Although we utilize the banking system and other financial elements, we should never develop a dependency on these things.  Jesus goes on in verse 20 and tells us the correct alternative – “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal”.  How do we store up for ourselves in heaven – by giving.  To lay up in heaven is giving.  To provide for yourself is hoarding.  So now you choose which will be number 1 in your life – God or mammon.

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