From this passage it sounds like works are needed to get to heaven. This is not so, John 3:16 asks you to believe only. This is the start of your walk with God. Notice I used the word walk, this implies movement and implies some kind of goal. If you decide to live for God, your life will show that change, works that show the change are signs that you are changing (walking), it is in the process that you are laying up treasures in heaven. As you do more and more things that serve God and less and less that serve the world; you will notice that your eyes seem brighter. You will want to serve God more and the world less. Your friends will be the first to see the change in you, they may join you or leave you, this is up to them, not you. You have no control over them. It is at this point you are trying to serve both masters. You see people in this predicament all the time. They have one foot in Church, and the other in the world, and they lean from one side to the other.
They think they are fooling everyone, but God knows the heart, He will not be fooled. It all boils down to the same decision Joshua asked the people toward the end of his book. Choose today whom you will serve, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Jesus makes the same plea. Jesus says you cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon was a word that was common in Jesus day, but not one we use today. Mammon means wealth, riches, the good life. The world makes this choice very hard for us, since we all need money to survive. We tend to become slaves to it and worship all that it buys. This has always been the trap, and one we as Christians are called to stay away from. Knowing this, does not make it any easier to do the right thing. You can with God's help.
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