Have a Single Heart to Serve God and not Mammon to Store Up Treasures in Heaven

As believers in Christ who want to live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today, we should not store up treasures for ourselves on earth but in heaven, for where our treasure is, there our heart will also be; we cannot and should not serve both God and mammon but rather serve and worship God and despise mammon.

Oh Lord Jesus, thank You for regenerating us to be kingdom people today. We want to live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens by loving You and worshipping You! We give our heart to You, dear Lord. May we serve and worship God and not mammon! Amen, Lord, we hold on to You today and we want to send our treasures in heaven! Praise the Lord, Christ is our treasure! Amen!

This week in our prayerful consideration of the crucial points in Matthew five through seven, we come to the topic of, Seeking First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.

We kingdom people should not be anxious about what we eat, drink, or clothe ourselves with, for our heavenly Father knows all these things, and He takes care of them.

As we live the kingdom life, we encounter some practical needs in our daily life. As men, we might have certain anxieties and concerns, either related to our practical living or our health.

But the Lord says that we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added to us.

This is part of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens, and this has to do with our daily living and serving the Lord.

We have a Father who is in heaven; our heavenly Father knows our needs, cares for us, and does everything necessary to cover all our needs.

We believers in Christ have God’s life and nature and are kingdom people; we should never forget that God is our heavenly Father, and He cares for us.

It is impossible for us to try to meet the requirements of the heavenly kingdom in ourselves, by ourselves, or by our natural life.

However, we can exercise our spirit and partake of God’s life and nature, even live by God’s life and according to His nature, so that it may be no longer I but Christ who lives in me. In this way, something is fulfilled in us. His economy is fulfilled in us! Amen!

May we be those who do not live by ourselves but rather deny the self, live a life through the resurrection power of Christ, and be conformed to His death so that we may be bountifully supplied by the Spirit of Jesus Christ to live Christ and magnify Christ. May this be our reality in our daily living.

We as Kingdom People Store up Treasures for Ourselves not on Earth but in Heaven

The Father’s kingdom is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today, the reality of the church life today, and will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the coming age (Matt. 5:3; 13:43).

If we are the kingdom people, we should live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today.

We need to enjoy the kingdom of the heavens today; the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is something we can enjoy if we are poor in spirit.

Thank the Lord that we can be poor in spirit and pure in heart to enjoy the Father’s kingdom today, even live in the reality of the kingdom so that we may enter into its manifestation in the coming age!

The manifestation of the kingdom is seen in Matthew 13:43 where the Lord said that the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Amen, we want to be in such a manifestation!

In Matthew 6:19-20 the Lord Jesus tells us not to store up for ourselves treasures on the earth but rather, store up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

This deals with our basic attitude as believers toward money. The attitude of every believer in Christ should be to not love money (Heb. 13:5; 1 Tim. 6:10; 2 Tim. 3:2).

Our way of life should be without the love of money. As believers in Christ, we need to have a way of life that is without any love for money. Why? Because the love of money is a root of all evil.

If we love money, all kind of evils can and will come out. Especially as we live at the end of this age, men are lovers of money. May the Lord preserve us, all of us in the church life, that we would not love money.

May we give heed to the Lord’s word. May we not store up for ourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves dig through and steal.

May we store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not dig through nor steal.

For us to store up treasures in heaven is to give material things to the poor (Matt. 19:21) and to care for the needy saints (Acts 2:45; 4:34-35; 11:29; Rom. 15:26) and the Lord’s servants (Phil. 4:16-17).

We need to give rather than try to accumulate material riches. If we store up for ourselves treasures on earth, we will always be serving mammon and not God (Matt. 6:24). Oh Lord Jesus!

Our governing principle as kingdom people is that to store up treasures on earth is against God’s economy and expresses a kind of unbelief in His mercy and care (vv. 32-33).

Our God is our Father, and He knows what we need; if we simply seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, He will take care of our needs more abundantly.

Just as children do not worry about their living because their parents take care of all things, so we as children of God should not worry about anything but rather, trust in the Lord who cares for us.

We trust in His mercy and care. We must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect; to do this, we must give to others and not accumulate riches for ourselves.

We need to learn to give things to the poor, care for the needy saints, and care for the Lord’s servants.

At the beginning of the church life in Acts, none of the saints had any lack, because they had everything in common.

When there was a need in a certain church, each one of the saints gave something to dispense to the church in need (Acts 11:29).

In Romans 15:26 we are told that Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

And in Philippians 4:16-17 we are told that the church in Philippi receives a special blessing because they care for the Lord’s servants.

May we take care of the poor, the needy saints, and the Lord’s servants. We need to bring this to the Lord and be in prayer before Him concerning this.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today. Keep us in the kingdom reality in all things. Oh Lord, may we be those who do not store up for ourselves treasures on the earth but in heaven! Amen, may our basic attitude as believers in Christ be to not love money. We give ourselves to You, Lord, to just love You. May our heart be with You. May our heart be fixed on You. You are our treasure. We treasure You more than anything else. We give our material possessions to You. We give our earthly needs to You. We want to seek Your kingdom first, trusting in You that You take care of all our needs. Amen, Lord, teach us how to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven! May we learn to give material things to the poor and to care for the needy saints and the Lord’s servants. Amen, Lord, may we constantly store up treasures in heaven, learning to give to others what You cause us to prosper with!

Having a Single Heart to Serve God and not Mammon: we Cannot Serve Two Masters!

As the Lord was speaking of storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven and not on earth, He said, No one can serve two masters…you cannot serve God and mammon (Matt. 6:24). This is very interesting.

We may think we make a lot of money and that’s not bad, for this shows that God blesses us, but God says that we cannot serve two masters – we cannot serve God and mammon.

We either hate the one and love the other, or we will hold on to one and despise the other.

Our eyes can focus on only one thing; if our eyes focus on God, our whole body is full of light, but if our eyes try to focus both on God and mammon, our whole body is in darkness. Oh Lord!

Our eye is evil when it tries to focus on two things at the same time, for then the light that is in us is darkness, and this darkness is great (vv. 22-23). Oh Lord Jesus!

Our heart must be single in serving God; we cannot serve God and mammon (riches) at the same time (Luke 16:13).

What is so wrong about mammon? Why is mammon here described as something evil by the Lord Jesus? It is because mammon was something invented by Satan, and the very nature of mammon before God is completely incompatible with every aspect of God (vv. 9, 11).

In God’s eyes, mammon is unrighteous. God did not create money; Satan did. Our heart loves money.

Whether we admit this or not, whether we realise this or not, our deceitful heart loves money. However, mammon is unrighteous in its very nature, and it is incompatible with God.

If we try to serve God in spirit and yet we love mammon, our eye is evil, we are not single in heart, and we cannot serve both God and mammon.

For us to look at two objects – God and mammon – at the same time, not focusing on one object alone, is to make our eye evil (Matt. 20:15; Deut. 15:9; Prov. 28:22).

When we do this, our whole body will be dark, and we will be in darkness. Oh Lord Jesus! This is why some saints may love the Lord very much, but at the same time they love mammon, and suddenly they are in darkness.

If we love mammon and try to love God at the same time, we will be in darkness. No one can serve two masters. We either hold on to one and despise the other, or we hate one and love the other.

Matthew 6:24 is a good verse to pray before the Lord, for our heart is deceitful above all things, and we do not know what is in our heart.

When the Lord shines on us concerning our love for mammon, we will repent, we will set our heart on Him, and our whole body will befull of light.

God created us human beings to trust in God and rely on Him, but Satan invented mammon so that man’s heart would be usurped by mammon and not serve God. In this sense, mammon is unrighteous.

We should not serve mammon but serve God. But the Lord in Luke 16 the Lord gives the parable of a steward who made friends with the mammon of unrighteousness; this shows us that we should learn to make friends for ourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness.

Furthermore, in Romans 16:11, Paul says, If therefore you have not become faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you what is true?

Today in the Lord’s sovereignty, how much we are prospered differs. Some have more and some have less. Whatever surplus we have is what God committed to us.

We can lay up some for our children; this is scriptural. But we should also give to the Lord and to His work. We need to be faithful in the unrighteous mammon so that the Lord may entrust us later with what is true. This true refers to the kingdom age.

The controversy of the universe is whether man will worship God or mammon (Matt. 4:9-10; 6:24).

We need to have a single heart to worship God and not mammon. When the Lord Jesus began His earthly ministry, Satan tempted Him by showing Him all the riches of the world and offering them to Him if Christ would worship Satan. Oh Lord!

So the Lord told him, Satan, go away! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. The Lord Jesus was not influenced by mammon at all.

Deliverance from mammon is the first and foremost condition for one to serve God (Luke 16:13; Heb. 13:5).

If we want to serve the Lord, we need to be delivered from mammon.

We need to ask the Lord to shine on us in this matter and show us that we cannot serve two masters; we need to be single in our heart for the Lord, focusing not on mammon but on God and His interest here on the earth!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to serve You with a single heart. Save us from trying to serve two masters – God and mammon. Save us from having an evil eye that focuses both on God and on mammon. Oh Lord, make our heart single in seeking You and serving You. May we cling to You, hold on to You, and worship You, and may we hate mammon. Oh Lord, we love You! We turn our heart to You! Shine on us. Expose any love of money. Expose our love and seeking for more of mammon. Oh Lord Jesus, may we see the unrighteous nature of mammon! Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You to worship only You! Deliver us from mammon. Deliver us from the love of money. We want to serve You with a single heart, even with a pure heart, without any love of money! We worship You, Lord. We give You the first place. We trust in You. We do not store up treasures for ourselves here on earth but in heaven, for our heart is in heaven with You! Amen, Lord, we give our heart to You! You are our Lord and our Master. We worship You and we trust in You!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew, msg. 22 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crucial Aspects of Matthew 5 through 7 (2025 September ITERO), week 8, Seeking First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness – day 1.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – “Be not anxious for the morrow, / Jesus said; / Why should we its trials borrow? / Trust instead! / For each hour of need or sorrow, / Grace He gives, and daily bread. / Thus our treasures safe investing / In His care, / Kept in His pavilion resting, / May we dare / Still to trust, thru faith’s deep testing, / Sure, God will His ways declare. (Hymns #700 stanzas 1-2)
  – Seek ye first, not earthly pleasure, / Fading joy and failing treasure, / But the love that knows no measure / Seek ye first. / Seek ye first, not earth’s aspirings, / Ceaseless longings, vain desirings, / But your precious soul’s requirings / Seek ye first. (Hymns #667 stanzas 1-2)
  – To all my needs both great and small / Thou art the rich supply; / So ready and sufficient too / For me now to apply. / Thy sweet anointing with Thy might / In weakness doth sustain; / By Thy supply of energy / My strength Thou dost maintain. (Hymns #539 stanzas 2-3)