who are wedded to the spirit of this age are destined to be widowed in the next age. Jesus understood the corrupting power of money and what it can buy, and its potential for spiritual seduction.  He said, "You cannot serve both God and money" (Mt 6:24).  Have you ever stopped to think what it means to serve money?  You serve your master; you are subservient, in servitude, in slavery to it. Jesus divides humankind into those who serve God, and those who serve money.  You live for money, or for God.  You trust in money, or in God.  You rely on money, or on God.  Whom do you serve?  Which master is your master?  Which master is really worthy of your allegiance? To pray the Lord's prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" is a prayer against consumerism (Mt 6:10). I struggle with this strong tension between the material and the spiritual every day.  It is not an easy struggle, especially for those of us who grew up knowing nothing but incredible prosperity and isolation from poverty and deprivation.  But I learn to recognise the struggle, and the essential opposition of the values of God's kingdom to the values of this world's kingdom, and the undeniable truth that my Father in heaven meets every need I have. I said earlier that generating wealth is good, and that we all need money and possessions to function well in our society.  But wealth