Working as an employee demands loyalty and obedience to the boss. Serving two masters at the same time is confusing at best and disastrous at worst. Although many people do more than one job, there is always the risk of preferring one boss to another and grumbling. Jesus said that true, wholehearted, loyal, devoted service is not just a matter of doing a job well; it is a personal commitment to serve the master whatever the cost.

That is true enough in the workplace, but in God's kingdom, there is only one valid boss. All the others are imposters. When Satan, the world or the flesh demand a different agenda it is because they hate the Lord and hate all that He is doing. Their only power is to seduce God's workforce to obey them instead of Him. Along the way Satan spins a web of lies, trapping the undiscerning believer into rebelling against God, hating His agenda, criticising His methods and despising His discipline. And many are spiritually derailed; especially when money starts dictating the agenda.

The wise disciple of Jesus will recognise the danger of money. It has its own seductive power causing otherwise rational people to do whatever is necessary to increase their wealth. Often Christ spoke about giving instead of getting, and sharing rather than keeping. But the love of money is a root of many kinds of evil: theft, murder, lying, fraud and broken promises. The love of money brings people to allow late payment for goods and services, false accounting, unnecessary cost-cutting, redundancies and dismissals in order to make the business or individual look good. None of that is serving Jesus.

The first step in taking a different path through life is to recognise the current dangers and past failures. Then, to repent of claiming to serve Jesus, while actually despising Him. There is no reconciliation without repentance. We must never forget that we are created by God, sustained by God and accountable to God. He is our master because He has bought us with the precious blood of Christ. No other authority has the right to command our obedience, least of all money.