Trouble and persecution cause some professing Christians to fall away. Others fail to grow, not because of what has happened, but of what might happen! “The cares of this world” can be translated as “concern for this age.” Those who set their hopes on this life will be filled with anxiety. “What shall we eat? What shall we wear? Where shall we live?” They fret and worry, and spend all their time trying to ensure their safety and material security. God’s Word loses its previous urgency in their lives. They neglect to read the Bible, have no time for church, and eventually drift away. “The deceitfulness of riches” causes others to stumble. After all, money seems to promise pleasure, prestige, power, and prominence to those who get enough of it. But what is “enough”? One very wealthy man answered that question quite simply: “Just a little bit more than I have now...” In other words, those who seek to be rich will never have “enough.” In their search for more, they will be trapped by an endless pursuit of possessions. Once you have money, you have to figure out how to save it, spend it, increase it, protect it. Your mind becomes distracted by a multitude of tasks that demand your total attention. Instead of seeking to know and serve God, those who worship Mammon fall into a bondage that separates them from the Lord and the life and joy He offers. They will not evince love for God or for those around them, but will manifest a growing obsession with things. Make no mistake: Anyone who says he is a Christian, but whose life revolves around a concern for this world, is a hypocrite. “You will know them by their fruits.”