Matthew 6.24-34 (NIV) Do Not Worry thank you to www.biblegateway.com for the text
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 “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? 26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 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? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
"Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money" those are the easy to remember lyrics to an outrageous song sung by Liza Minelli in the film edition of Cabaret. (don't know if they were in the original stage show).
That's what this is all about my friends. Jesus knows how crazy we get about money - getting it, multiplying it, saving it, securing it, etc. etc. It was no different then - if you are going to get caught worshipping a god other than the Father of Jesus, you have a good chance of being found worshipping money. In this world, money is god - because it represents power and status and access and protection.
But Jesus is teaching about an entirely different world - a kingdom not of this world. Jesus is the first pioneer in this kingdom of God, and in this kingdom you are called to trust in the king - the divine Father, the creator of all life and all that is good. Without a doubt this is an 'immoderate, risky, extreme' proposition and calls for an absolute confidence in God (which even the best of us manage only a portion of the time).
Power comes through God in Jesus and the Spirit - who have the ultimate power of eternity. [What good does it do you to save your life and lose your soul?] Status comes through baptism into the Jesus who loved you first. Access comes through calling on Jesus' name. Protection can only be found in God's divine care, not in swords or law or money.
When we are focused on money, we worry. When we realize that all things are in God's hands, there is less need for worry. Notice I didn't say, less need for using our skills at planning or organizing. Notice I didn't say, less need for going to work. But, for heaven's sake, and ultimately for yours, let it rest and trust in God.
When we are chasing after money we are running away from God's divine care through Jesus. That money will pull us in the opposite direction of Jesus' kingdom every time. Freed from the worry of gathering more we can give in to a wholehearted pursuit of God.
Jesus is calling on his disciples to be resolute; to commit to God's kingdom with full measure. Jesus wants our eyes on God - I call that righteousness. Not all of us will end up 'rich' in stuff., but certainly nNone of us will be immune from the adversity of this world.
Now, just an aside. There are some among us who are amazingly talented at making money. They work hard, they make good decisions, and their entrepreneurial skills benefit their employees, community and many around them. The money that comes to them gives them pleasure - but so does the ability to share that money with many in need. It's not about how much money you do - or do not have. It's about your heart....and no one can judge that accurately but God.
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I often think about the role money plays in my life and the life of my family. To say that it doesn't play a big part of it would be a lie. Money is often the cause of stress in my household, so it's an ongoing battle for me to seperate all that we have, from all we need and even all that we want. The stress of thinking about how we are going to save for college and retirement and so forth can be overwhelming, but that stress is just the devil's thumb holding me down from God. Realizing that my family already has EVERYTHING we need is liberation from that evil force holding me down. We are fed, we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and are able to give to others. What more could we ask for? I think we forget to distinguish between what we NEED and what we WANT, becoming slaves to the money that will provide whatever it is we desire. If there is a will, and your heart is in the right place, there is NOTHING out of reach.
ReplyDelete"A Faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished... Proverbs 28:20
We all want to be secure in our own finances, but to what end will we allow that to happen? What amount is THE amount that will tell you "you've made it"... when is enough ENOUGH!? And when you have enough, would you still have enough faith in the Lord to give it all up if that is asked of you? Not saying it would be asked, but would you willing give it up to the Lord? And when you have all that you want, will you still thank God for it all? Will you still be thankful in your heart to the Lord that has given it to you?
Money matters... it sure does, and we have to work for it. We can't just sit back and hope it comes to us, but we have to remember that it's not everything. We all have talents to give, whether or not we can give monetarily all the time. Like the last part of the this post, it's about our hearts. Can we trust in the Lord enough to shed some of that stress and worry about money and all that we have or don't have? As much as we all want to say yes, it's easier said than done. We will still worry, we will still get stressed, but having the Lord to trust in makes those burdens lighter to carry... at least for me they do :)
"Enough" is always a little more than what you currently have. When you look at the bounty of your lives and recognize that you have some that you can share with another, then you are in a place where God can use you as an instrument of his divine plan. It's never about the actual number of dollars and cents.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY! and even in poverty people find ways to use their God given talents to help one another. Their are a million ways to be an instrument of God!
ReplyDelete