Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Tag: No man can serve two masters

Schizophrenic Christians

By

On July 1, 2010

In Christian

When working as a Shark researcher in the Bimini Biological Field Station, Bahamas each of the researchers were assigned a skiff (small boat) that they had to maintain. One day when cleaning the skiff assigned to me, I had one foot of mine on the dock and the other in the skiff. The tether that was holding the skiff to the dock had been released and the skiff start to move away from the dock. Very soon, I found myself doing a karate kid side split, until I could no longer stretch and fell into the water getting completely soaked. I should have made up my mind to have my feet securely anchored on solid ground (dock) or both foot in the skiff to avoid the fall.

Bad outcomes are often observed to occur when the decision maker is double minded. Missed penalty kicks in Soccer or strikeouts in Baseball are testaments to players not being focused . Many times these players are double minded when they miss their shot.

Our frame of mind in our Christian walk has an effect as well. We are asked to renew our mind (Romans 12:2) so that we are no longer conformed to the patterns of this world that is unstable. We are to be with the God given sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7) and what is more is that we are to be of a single mind, the same mind that was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). We cannot be double minded. In other words, we cannot be schizophrenic Christians, serving two masters. We can pledge our allegiance to God or to the world, not both. To be part of God and be part of the world simultaneously is like having one feet on the dock (solid ground) and the other in the skiff (that is moving away from solid ground); the end result of which will be a sure fall.

Point(s) to ponder:
1. Have you/I renewed our minds to conform to that of Christ Jesus and not to the world?
2. Are you/I double minded in our allegiance? If so, let us choose this day, whom we shall serve!

Image: Christ in the Storm, by Rembrandt

James 1:8 (KJV)
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

No man :: can serve two masters

By

On November 13, 2009

In Christian, No man

When we used to live in the Bimini Islands in the Bahamas, one of our responsibilities as a shark researcher in the Bimini Biological Field Station was to take care of the skiffs (small boats). And once when trying to clean our skiff, I had one foot on the dock and the other in the boat that was tethered to the dock. However, I soon realized that this was not a good position to be in. One foot in the boat (not on solid ground) and the other foot on the dock (on solid ground) could mean only one thing. It was time to get wet. I found myself done a nearly 180 split and then I in the water, all wet.

The Bible records in the gospel of Matthew that ‘no man can serve two masters‘ (Matthew 6:24), wherein the masters referred here are God and mammon (money). These were the very words of Jesus. In fact, Jesus goes on to expand on this to the extreme, that we cannot serve both God (the savior) and money (our selfish desires), because we will end up hating one and loving the other or holding on to one and despising the other. The Bible counsels us that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). The Bible also warns us that He who is a friend of the world is an enemy of God (James 4:4) and I wrote about this earlier in the post entitled ‘ The law of reciprocal relations‘, but felt that it is appropriate to revisit this under the context of the ‘No man’ series we have been doing.

What does ‘no man can serve two masters’ mean? What follows after Jesus expressed this gives us the answer. To try to appease God and self, we would end up hating one and loving the other or holding on to one and despising the other. This means that while we feel that we can have one foot on solid ground (God) and one on our selfish desires i.e., love for money (not solid ground), we will find ourselves drowning in worldly desires, erring from our faith (1 Timothy 6:10). To be lukewarm in our walk with God, warrants a response on His part and that is, He will vomit us out of His mouth for we will be a distaste to Him (Revelation 3:16). Let our yeses be yeses and our nos be nos and yes, no man can serve two masters. Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Law of Reciprocal Relations

By

On August 26, 2009

In Christian, Physics and Christ

Newton’s Third Law (Lex III) which is “Actioni contrariam semper et æqualem esse reactionem: sive corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse æquales et in partes contrarias dirigi.” states that ‘The forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions.’. Newton’s third law is referred to as the law of reciprocal actions and is simplified as ‘To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.’

An application of this physical law in our Spiritual life could be used to derive what I call the Law of Reciprocal Relations. The Law of Reciprocal Relations states that “The love force of Jesus Christ and the love forces of the World on each other are opposingly equal and directed in opposite directions.” Remember Jesus’ words, ‘no man can serve two masters‘ (Matthew 6:24). The Bible also warns us that He who is a friend of the world is an enemy of God (James 4:4).

It may also be said that just as for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, the more we are attracted to the things of the world, the more the world attracts us and the more we are to draw near unto God, the more He will draw near unto us (James 4:8).

Let’s choose this day, where our allegiance lies and what forces draw us in its direction. I pray it is the love force of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 73:28 (KJV)
28. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén