Why Worry Despises God:

Matthew 6:24-27

   ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Do Not Worry

    ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

I've read this passage on worry many times in my life.  Matthew 6 has become one of those "go-to" chapters for me when I feel that my emotions have gotten the best of me.  It's as though these verses have been medicine to my soul, reminding me that God is bigger than all of my problems, that He knows my needs, and that He will take care of me.

But this passage took on a more serious tone as I was reading it the other day.  I noticed something that I had always skimmed through before: the context.  

A rule of thumb when studying the bible in context is to always be aware of verses that start out with the word "Therefore".  The word therefore always signals that you need to take a deeper look into what you are reading.  It signals that this verse cannot be taken alone, but must be looked at in consideration with the verses that came before it.


I've always known this, but for the first time- the context of this passage helped me look at the meaning of worry in a whole new way.

Right before Jesus begins his talk about worry, He is reminding us of our tendency to have a fragmented heart.  He explains as followers of Jesus we can not be double-minded, loving God- but also loving something else, in this case- money.  


I don't necessarily consider myself an idolater.  I don't see myself as a person who serves two Gods.  Whenever I read those verses about worshiping God or worshiping money, I always supposed I was choosing God....undoubtedly so.  


Jesus boldly proclaims that you cannot serve both God and money.  He explains that if you serve one...you will hate the other.   Those are some serious words.


But here's what got me.  Right after making this declaration He goes on to say:


Therefore, [aka with what I just said in mind] do not worry about your life.

Essentially, what Jesus is saying is that by worrying about our life- we have chosen to serve that master of money rather than God.  By worrying, we have allowed the idol of material things to take root in our hearts and become the very thing to which we are pledging our allegiance.  By worrying, we have in essence said that we are devoted to the things of this world...and not to our God.  

We need to take a serious look at the dangers of worry.  We need to begin to see it as the pedestal that allows the material to take the place of the supernatural.  The seed that allows the sin of idolatry to take root in our hearts.  The god that divides our hearts and minds and fools us into believing that this life here on earth is our final home.  

May we say no to the idol of worry.