Matthew 6:25"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
30"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'
32"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
30"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'
32"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Let’s do some imagining – let’s picture verse 33 – “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” – like a Christmas tree. Seeking first His kingdom and righteousness is the tree itself. The decorations are the things “added” to the tree – but they are not the tree itself. They can never take the place of the tree. They are not the substance – they are merely the decoration. They are nice – but they are not the tree!
I like to picture the Lord, in a sense, sneaking up behind His children as they are busily seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness, and hanging little “decorations” on them, and smiling as He does so.
Something else stands out to me about this passage of scripture, and that is the freedom from worry that the Lord wants us to walk in. He doesn’t want us to be excessively burdened, fretful, even fearful. Consider the words, “the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things.” It simply means their focus, their daily worry and the way they spend their time and resources – is seeking to gain everything they need or want. Why? Because they don’t have the same assurance of a heavenly Father who feeds and cares for them that we do as Christians. We, on the other hand, have that assurance, and God likes to see the evidence of our faith and trust in Him – not the anxiety of the world reigning over us!
If the necessary things of life are “added to us” while we are seeking – not the things, but God – then they come upon us without our setting worried minds on them! God wants us to rest in our relationship with our heavenly Father – that He loves us and cares for us and even meets our need for everyday simple things like food and clothing.
Of course, there is a balance here. We are all called to WORK in some way. Resting in Him doesn’t give license for laziness! Presently I don’t work outside the home, but I still have work to do, primarily housework. Most husbands and fathers have to work to provide a living for their families. Some wives or single moms have jobs outside the home. Some are called to fulltime ministry as their occupation. Even children must learn to work hard in school to get the most benefit from it, and they learn to help out at home as well. Even voluntary pursuits involve a willingness to put forth sincere effort. Doing our work well, as unto Him, is one way we honor God – or seek Him first – in our lives, whatever form our work takes.
Having work to do is just a fact of life, so we’d best get on with it – yet, not fretfully, but peacefully, trusting our heavenly Father to provide for us everything we need. I love the peace of knowing my Father cares for me, and I hope you do, too! Blessings to you today as you seek Him first.
***
Job 42:1-2 Then Job answered the LORD and said, "I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
[ALL SCRIPTURES NASB]
1 comment:
Daily trust; daily peace; daily assurance that whatever our hands find to do, we should do it all for the kingdom, knowing that our Father will, indeed, sneak up behind us to bless his with lavish decoration.
Decorated in Jesus... that's how I want to shine each day.
Thanks for stopping by. Peace and rest to you this weekend.
~elaine
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