Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust do corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye should be single to the glory of God, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye should be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light which is in you should be darkness, how great shall that darkness be.
No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:19-24)
What does the word "mammon" mean? Translated into the language of our day the above reads as follows:
No one can serve two masters, for either they'll either hate the one and love the other or at least they will follow one and ignore the other. You cannot serve God and covet.
It's not enough to simply say, “I'm living a good life and I'm a good person.” Even the wicked love their own. There is a standard. It was established by God the Father before this world was. He sent Christ into the world to declare it anew in a record preserved to our day.
Do you covet? Where is your heart? Is it set upon the treasures of the earth? Or is your treasure in heaven?
Seeking and obtaining enough to provide for the needs of yourself and your family is not coveting wealth or riches. It is taking care of your own and a part of Christ's faith (see 1 Timothy 5:1-8).
But the second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. If we have enough and to spare but then deny the beggar's petition when placed before our eyes are we not coveting?
Possessing wealth or riches isn't the issue. It's why we seek such and how we use such.
We should first seek Christ and his kingdom so as to obtain from Him promises regarding what we can expect to receive from Him in eternity. He can be found. Then, it is appropriate to seek for wealth and riches provided we do so with the intent to use them to do good (such as clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, liberating the captive and providing relief to the sick and afflicted).
Whenever men can find out the will of God and find an administrator legally authorized from God, there is the kingdom of God; but where these are not, the kingdom of God is not. All the ordinances, systems, and administrations on the earth are of no use to the children of men, unless they are ordained and authorized of God; for nothing will save a man but a legal administrator; for none others will be acknowledged either by God or angels.
Where there is no kingdom of God there is no salvation. What constitutes the kingdom of God? Where there is a prophet, a priest, or a righteous man unto whom God gives His oracles, there is the kingdom of God; and where the oracles of God are not, there the kingdom of God is not.
The above is what I mean when I refer to seeking first the kingdom of God.
Part of keeping Christ's commandments requires us to be familiar enough with his word so as to know what His commandments are. Then we need to spend sufficient time prayerfully pondering His commandments to understand how to obey them.
We can choose to serve God and love him and in doing so obtain endless riches of righteousness and happiness with Him in heaven worlds without end. Or we can ignore him by coveting wealth and riches here and now. The choice is ours.
The point is that we need to obey Christ. We need to love him and not covet our wealth and riches. If we seek such, it should be used to bless the poor and the needy that God loves as much as he loves us.
Therefore, please take his commandments seriously to the degree that you sincerely ponder his commandments and between him and you determine how they are to correctly be applied in your life.
And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples, How difficultly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of my Father. And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus spoke again and said unto them, Children, how hard is it for them who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men that trust in riches, it is impossible; but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake. For with such, all these things are possible. (Mark 10:23-27, see also Luke 18:18-27 and Matthew 19:23-26)
