Overcoming Cares, Part 3a: Mammon Is not a Provider
In Matthew 13, Jesus included teaching on the sower into session two of his “classroom” teaching for his apprentice leaders; it was part of their discipleship. Already, in his first classroom teaching session with them, he emphasized the importance of being single focused—the very thing he wants us to do to prevent weeds choking God’s kingdom seed in our hearts:
(Matthew 6:22–23 DKJV) “The lamp of the body is the eye; therefore if your eye is healthy (single-focused), your whole body will be fully illuminated. (23) But if your eye is diseased (bad), your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is completely dark, how great is that darkness!”
Following this, Jesus specified on what to be single-focused: he revealed “two masters”; both these masters vie for the center of our attention. However, Jesus taught that we need to be—and only can be—focused on one master. Then, detailing this more specifically, he applied it to serving either God or “mammon.” Jesus introduced mammon as an alternative lord, who [deceptively] offers to supply our needs if we serve him. Being single focused is the only way to bring God’s word seeds to harvest. If you are single focused on only one master, you cannot serve another one at the same time—even a miniscule amount:
(Matthew 6:24 DKJV) “No one can serve as a slave to two masters; for either he will hate one, and love the other; or he will be devoted to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve as a slave to both God and mammon.”
After introducing “mammon” with the warning that he is an alternative “master,” Jesus continued by revealing mammon’s luring offers and activities:
(Matthew 6:25–26 DKJV) “Therefore I say to you, don’t be distracted by thoughts about your life—what you will eat and drink, nor about your body—what you will put on. Isn’t life more than food, and the body than clothing? (26) Observe the birds of the air! For they don’t sow and reap, nor do they gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?”
Jesus reveals that mammon makes the [empty] promise that he is able to provide food, drink, and clothing—if, that is, we worry enough about it, and focus our attention on it with anxious thought.
However, mammon is not primarily a supply source: he is simply an [alternative] master; he is God’s enemy who wants desperately to hold on to his position as “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4 KJV). He (Satan under the guise of mammon) believes he can achieve his objective by cutting off God’s rule. God’s kingdom rule operates through his word-seeds harvested from our hearts.
Therefore, mammon’s true purpose is not to provide for us, but merely to distract our focus from God’s word. He does this by enticing us into worry and anxiety, thinking we can provide for ourselves. He only has to supply enough doubt and enticement to divide our thinking, and thus achieves his objective; a person without single focus on God and his word will not produce a harvest for God. Why? Because the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways:
(James 1:6–8 KJ2000) But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. (7) For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. ( A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Mammon’s objective in this is to win our submission (worship); he claims to be in charge of our supply, and that we will need to serve him before we can receive it from him. This is a complete lie, but how do we counteract it?
Jesus teaches us that serving mammon involves being “distracted by thoughts about your life”; this is mammon’s strategy. Yes, good old anxiety and worry are how we serve (worship) the alternative god, mammon. Remember, his lie is that if you worry long and hard enough, you will get what you need.
However, I repeat, mammon is not a provider; being God’s sworn enemy, his sole focus is to prevent what God wants—a harvest from the kingdom word-seed sown in our hearts. Cares, worry, and anxiety are word-chokers, so they adequately suit the enemy’s purpose. Yet worry, anxiety, and cares are not able to provide; they cannot create anything; mammon (Satan) merely and deceptively “promises” that they will. (In truth, in Genesis the devil’s temptation to Adam and Eve wasn’t that he would supply for them; but that they should supply for themselves instead of trusting God to do it. Worry, stress, and sweaty toil was the fruit of this deception; provision was not (See: Gen. 3).) Let’s invest our full trust in God and his ability to provide; he is our supply source and blesser.
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