Scripture – ““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? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:25-34 NIV
Observation – Jesus tells us not to worry about what we are going to eat and drink and what we are going to wear. He tells us that worrying will not even increase our life span by 60 minutes. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow because today has enough trouble. In place of worrying we should seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness and then God will give us everything we need.
Application – This is one of the great secrets of life. We get to choose how we invest the time God has given us as human beings on this earth. We can turn inwardly and focus the majority of our time and energy on our lives worrying about how we are going to make money to take care of all of our needs or we can pursue God’s kingdom and how he desires us to live and he will just give us all the things we are pursuing. This seems counterintuitive; that we get what we want by not trying to get it???? How does this work in real life? If you desire wealth you will obtain it by serving your clients better than your competition and putting their needs first. Your customers will love you so much, because you are taking great care of them, that they will tell their friends about you and you will get more business. If you desire to be esteemed you will obtain it by loving other people and loving God. If you desire greater intimacy with your spouse you will obtain by being selfless and putting your spouse’s needs above your own. As Jesus taught us, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35 NIV. Now if you are doing this just to get what, and not because you love God and love others, God and others will see through it. This is why you must be born again, this is why you need a new heart, your old self with your old heart can’t carry this type of selfless life out day after day. You need God’s Spirit living in you, directing you, guiding you and strengthening you to live a life that seeks God’s kingdom and his righteousness. You need to bow your knee to the king and become his servant and then he will lift you up. When you are fully engaged in loving God and loving others there is no time for worry, you are too busy doing good things and enjoying your time on earth.
Prayer – Lord, I pray that we would trust you so we can live today in service to you and others and not waste our day worrying about our little anthill of a kingdom while we ignore your great kingdom. Amen.
What are you doing? Do it better 