Matthew 6: 25-33
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature And why take ye thought for clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take not thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or,
What shall we drink? Or Wherewithall shall we be clothed? (For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.”
The two most common questions asked around my house are, “What
should I wear?” and “What’s for dinner?”
When I get up in the morning my first concern is always, “What am I
going to wear?” Sometimes the answer is as simple as going to my closet,
picking out a shirt, and grabbing a pair of blue jeans. Other days I find
myself rifling through the dirty clothes basket hoping to find a pair of pants
my son hasn’t already been spit up on!
Once I decide what to wear, I inevitably start thinking
about what I’m going to make for dinner. My husband is always hungry, and with
a baby around the house it can take me all day to get supper on the table.
I think it’s natural that we often concern ourselves with
the things we need. We need clothing and food to survive. We need to be well
nourished and protected from the elements. However, it’s important that we
recognize that even though these things are necessary, they are temporary. No
matter how much I eat I will always get hungry again. Laundry is never ending
because we are constantly looking for something to wear!
But the Bible tells us that there are concerns in life that
are more than temporary; they are eternal. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells his
disciples to seek first the things of God and his righteousness. Jesus tells them not to worry about what they
will eat or what they will wear, because they have more important things to think
about. And like them, we too should be
concerned about the things of God. We should concern ourselves first and
foremost with our salvation and the salvation of our children. Have you decided to follow Christ? Have you
put your trust in him for eternal life knowing that you will never be good
enough to earn your way into heaven?
I also wonder how different our homes would be if the most
common questions we asked ourselves were about the thing of God instead of
temporary things. Are you doing your best to show your love of God by obeying
his commandments? Are you doing your best to serve your family and to love your
enemies?”
These things may not seem like necessities to us. The things
of God like prayer, Bible Study, and church often get put on the back burner. We
get caught up in worry about temporary things and forget to seek after the
righteousness of God, but God promises that if we will trust him and seek after
Him, he will provide everything we need.
In Matthew 6:20, we are also told to “lay up for ourselves
treasures in heaven.” You see food spoils, clothes wear out. The stuff we have like our homes, cars, and
our phones, they break. These things don’t last forever. However, the time and
money we spend investing in God’s Word, investing in our children, investing in
our church families, that time is laid up for us as treasures in heaven. It
won’t corrupt; it won’t fade; it won’t break; and we can’t lose it!
So today, when your kids start asking what’s for lunch, remember that there are things in life even more
important than food and clothing; because the things of God last forever, and
where our treasure is there our hearts will be also.
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