Said the Robin to the Sparrow
“I would really like to know why these anxious Human Beings rush about and worry so?”
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
“Oh, I think that it must be that they have no Heavenly Father such as cares for you & me.”
—Unknown (Source: Teach Us To Number Our Days by David Roper)
Lord Jesus said:
“No one can serve two masters…” “You cannot serve God and mammon.”
“ON THIS ACCOUNT I AM SAYING TO YOU, Stop worrying about your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, and about your body, with what you will clothe yourself. Is not the life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the heaven, They are not sowing seed, nor reaping, not even are they collecting into granaries. And yet your heavenly Father is feeding them. As for you, do you not surpass them? “
“For your heavenly Father knows that you are in constant need of all these things. But be seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness, and these things, all of them, shall be added to you. (abbreviated Matthew 6:24-34 NASB & Expanded Translation, Emphasis mine)
Please read the complete text when you have opportunity. I would like to briefly expand on several points:
- Jesus’ words tell us that worry keeps us from obeying God. He told us in the parable of the soils (or hearts) that worry is one of the weeds that chokes out the word of God in our hearts keeping us from knowing it and obeying it.
- When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you receive His righteousness; therefore, you have already sought His righteousness as instructed in verse 33. You already possess it in Christ through salvation. Romans 5:17 says “….much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
- As a born again believer, you can now “see” (i.e. understand) and “enter” (i.e. begin to live under the rule of God) “the kingdom” of God. This what Jesus told Nicodemus in his discussion about being born again in John 3. We now just need to keep expanding the kingdom of God in our character and life, i.e. II Peter 1: 2-11.
- THEREFORE, as a believer, you have and are fulfilling the instructions that Jesus gave in verse 33. And this means “…that all these things shall be added to you.” So let us “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God.” (Philippians 4: 6) “Casting all of your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7)
As a born again believers in Jesus Christ, we are precious to God the Father. Evidence of this is seen on the Cross as He sent Jesus to display His self-sacrificial, agape love for us. May we lay hold of His promise (v33) by faith and walk with our minds girded for action and sober in spirit; free from the crippling and thought paralyzing mental attitudes of worry, fear and such.
Remember Texas and Louisiana in your prayers as they grapple with Hurricane Harvey.
Carl
Psalm 119: 38 