“Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness” (Ps 119:36).
Longing or lusting. The Lord’s truth or the world’s things. A heart inclined to God or enslaved by Mammon. As the Lord Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Lk 16:13).
It’s not a matter of having money, but of money having you. When we come to one of life’s crossroads and both earthly gain and godliness beckon, only one can be my master. Don’t be fooled, says Paul. Those who suppose “gain is godliness” are also “destitute of the truth” (1 Tim 6:5). Instead, it’s the other way around: “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (v 6). To set your heart on uncertain riches is a self-inflicted wound. They’re hard to come by, hard to manage, hard to share, hard to lose. Lord, bend our hearts so the trajectory of our lives is always toward You and Your desires for us!