Master or Hearts

“No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other.” ~ Luke 16:13 

Love. Love is a wonderous thing, but if left unchecked it can become disastrous. When Jesus said, “Where our treasure lies, there our hearts will be also” (Luke 12:34; Matt 6:21), He was telling us that what we treasure will rule us, and unless that thing is God, our treasure will enslave us.

In the J.R.R Tolkien “Lord of the Rings” novels, Gollum was a friendly hobbit (a small hairy, humanlike creature) formerly named Smeagol who loved and was loved by many in the Shire. However, one day he discovered a golden ring, and from that moment on, every decision and movement he made was to keep possession of that ring.

In his blinding desire for it, Gollum destroyed all his relationships with friends and family so that he could hold onto the one thing his heart treasured most, his “precious.” The ring’s beauty distracted him until how it made him feel unwittingly became an obsession, shackling Gollum. This “love” he had shattered everything real and good and replaced it with slavery until ultimately, he was alone with nothing, not even the ring. 

As far-fetched as it seems, we’re all a little too much like Gollum. We busily go about our lives giving our hearts to people and things that lead us away from the pure love of God, the only love that sets us free. While these people and things are often good, when we place them at the center of our hearts, they become idols, and immediately all other relationships in our lives become distorted and out of balance with the way we were made to live—as children of God.

You see, our Creator formed us to serve, and serve we will, but in His grace, God gives us the freedom to choose whom or what we serve (Josh 24:15). However, the catch is we can only serve one (Matt 6:24), and it is only when we allow God to be our Master that we become free to enjoy the rest of the gifts we have. He does not bind us and tell us not to love anything or anyone else. When we serve God, he enhances our other relationships in a beautifully healthy way for all involved. God alone gives us the ability to see things for what they genuinely are—freedom or enslavement, life giving or life taking. 

For us to have stability in our lives, God must have top billing on our priority list. When our hearts are anchored in Him, we’re able to love our spouses more deeply, our children more patiently, and our extended families more graciously. Then the things that don’t belong at the top of our priority list—money, clothes, body image, social media—begin to fall into their proper place.

Ask God to reveal what you may have set up as the master of your life. You might be surprised by His answer. And if it’s anything other than Him, surrender it. Ask Him to show you how to let go and trust your life to His loving, gracious hands.

Yes, surrender can feel like loss, but by loving and serving God alone, our lives will be blessed beyond our imaginations.