No one 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. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (Matthew 6:24-27)

Worry Serves The Wrong Master

The nature of humanity lends itself to focus on one thing and this is how God has created man. While multitasking is a gift of the human will, it boils down to a choice of serving the will of God or the will of the human spirit. Man has always been a free moral agent. Adam and Eve had a choice and allowed the spirit of mammon to rule their hearts. Sin is the harvest of the field of avarice. Confidence in the fleshly side of man is the predominant desire that turns the heart away from serving the will of the Father to the carnal desires of the moment. Eve looked on the forbidden fruit with a passion of desire that could only be whited by disobeying God. Her love for the flesh overpowered her love for God.

It is a profound truth that man cannot serve two masters. The heart of man is singular in its nature. When a man seeks to serve God and mammon, he falls into the trap of hypocrisy. There is no room for God when the heart is filled with the desires of the world. Loyalty is not divided – it is singular. If a man decides to serve the desires of the flesh, he removes himself from the will of God. The Lord will not allow a man to say he loves Him and at the same time devote his life to the needs of the flesh. God is a jealous God and His name is Jealous because He cannot and will not accept anything less than total allegiance from men. It is impossible – with bold assertion – to serve God and mammon. Men try it all the time and fail without exception. Trying to serve God and mammon is like trying to walk backward to the moon.

Worry is the excessive concern for things of the world. An inordinate concern for the things of life can take the heart away from trusting in the blessings of the Father. Life can be difficult and demanding and Satan has no greater desire for men to spend their lives worrying about and fussing over the minutia of things that have no significance. Life for the worrier becomes an obsession with what to eat and drink and what to wear and matters of no lasting value. The heart is taken away from God and men begin to serve mammon rather than the Creator. Jesus put a ‘therefore’ between the admonition of God and mammon and the need not to worry to emphasize the hypocrisy of trying to love God and trusting Him so little. Covetousness comes from trying to serve two masters. Worry springs from trying to serve two masters. Fear fills the mind when God is no longer the master of life.

There are many things to be concerned with in life. God promised to feed the sparrows but He never suggested He would bring the food to the nest. There is a need to work and labor to care for life but the overabundance of trust in the things of mammon leads to the people of God filling their lives with an inordinate desire and concern for life. There are many in the church of the Lord that have allowed a fear of a virus to consume them with anxiety and distrust of the care of God. It is sad to watch children of God cower at home with fear refusing to obey the will of the Father. Life has become a pattern of fear. Serving mammon will not bring joy. Worrying cannot add one value to life. Jesus appeals to the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns because God takes care of them. We are far more valuable to God than the birds. Can all my worries add a single moment to my life? When I serve God and reject mammon, I will see more clearly the protective care and blessings of the Father. Worry serves the wrong master.