The Problem With Two

I am currently doing a study through the book of 1 Samuel.  In the opening chapter, Elkanah, Samuel’s father, has two wives.  And whenever we read stories about a man having two wives, the story doesn’t end well or it involves a lot of heartache and plenty of pain.  Earlier in scripture, we find the same type of trouble haunting the patriarch Jacob.  The problem with having two wives is that men are incapable of loving two women.  It just isn’t a part of human nature.  God didn’t create us that way.  A man with two wives will ultimately have a favorite and in both the stories of Jacob and Elkanah, one wife was loved and the other wasn’t.  This truth is not just applied to wives but can be applied to masters.  The Lord made this point when he said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Matt. 6:24)  It isn’t in man’s nature to serve two masters.  Man will be totally devoted to one but be less committed to the other.  We know that “masters” are metaphoric for anyone or anything that we are obedient to or things that hold our deepest commitment and devotion.  For example, a drug can be my master if I wake up in the morning and do everything I can to score that drug.  My world revolves around scoring that drug daily. A drug addict will wake up in the morning trying to score and every routine revolves around the drug.  That’s commitment.  That’s devotion.

My encouragement for you today is for you to develop the same type of commitment for the Lord.  When you wake up, do you talk to Him in prayer?  Do you thank Him for the blessings in your life?  Do you have a daily routine that fits God in?  The problem is that it is too easy nowadays to love the world and everything it has to offer, especially in this country.  We live in a country of opulence and extravagance.  Everything seems to be geared towards pleasure and reward.  Many believers and nominal Christians (and I don’t say this lightly as if I have arrived at spiritual maturity myself) have both feet firmly planted in this world.  But this world is not our home and is certainly not our final resting place.  Do you act like this is true?  There is nothing wrong with saving or buying a home or being involved in anything temporal.  BUT!!!  Where is your daily commitment?  Is it in your 401K or your job?  Does it lay in the success of your favorite sports team?  This is what Jesus said a few verses before, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:19-21) The point is this:  if you are completely devoted to these temporal things, then you will be a lot less committed to God.  Don’t fall prey to this world.  Serve the Lord daily and love the only Master that counts!!!

Dave F. 

   ‘69 / ‘76 / Egg Harbor Twp   NJ

Doris Jean H

’44 / ’55 Manheim PA