DO NOT WORRY – HAVE FAITH
Or
BE NOT ANXIOUS – TRUST GOD
SUNDAY OCT. 10, 2021
Scripture To Consider:
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to your stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?’”
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?”
“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.”
“But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourself money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12.22-34
Something To Consider:
We left off in our reading last week with Jesus admonishing His listeners to be rich toward God, rather than gathering wealth for oneself. In our text today we are given a clue as to why some people store up treasures on earth for themselves rather than heeding Jesus’ warning to be rich toward God.
One clue to consider is found in what Jesus said to His disciples. “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.” But this spiritual mentality of not worrying would take our having faith in God and our trusting God. This relying upon the promises of God kind of lifestyle would force us to take Jesus at His Word. For some that would be too large a leap of faith. And yet, Hebrews 11.1 claims, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
All have not seen God, and yet, some believe in Him. Why? It is because we see the evidence of God in the order of nature. We see the evidence of God in the complexity of the human body! Therefore, those who believe should also not worry or be anxious for the things God knows they need.
Something Else To Consider:
So Jesus attempted to instill within His disciples as well as in us, the importance of our not being anxious about tomorrow, next week, and next year. And this takes faith in God on our part, and our willingness to trust Him to provide our basic needs as He has promised to do so. But therein is revealed the somewhat hidden crux of the issue. Therein is the difficulty!
Many of us living in this day and age have been brainwashed into thinking and believing that we deserve so much more than our basic needs. The whole world’s corrupted economic system is based on our wanting and desiring more than the basic needs of life. Therefore, many go right on building bigger barns in hope of satisfying their inner turmoil. And without our being rich toward God, it simply does not work. Our building bigger barns only creates more worry and anxiety due to more personal property tax and upkeep.
And as an additional warning, we should be very careful to what we are hearing on a regular basis. We should be extremely careful of who we are hearing our daily news from. Are we buying into the fearmongering over a man-made virus that has a recorded rate of recovery of approx. 99.8%? Are we allowing others who are owned and controlled by a few handfuls of global elites to use world-wide scare tactics in order to persuade us to allow strangers to inject into our bodies poison and experimentally created so-called vaccines? If Christians, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God!
Something More To Consider:
Paul addressed humankind’s need to glory only in God and our need for spiritual wisdom in chapter 2 of 2 Corinthians. “For I determine not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.” Paul, the great man of God, the great man of faith, knew what it was to be weak, to fear, and yet, to remain a man of faith and trust in God!
Therefore, the apostle Paul continued in verse 4 of 1 Corinthians chapter 2, by proclaiming; “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith [that our faith] should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” How many preachers do we know that can make those kinds of claims today?
The foolish wisdom of men will have us grabbing for all the gusto and glitter this world has to offer. The power and godly wisdom of God’s Spirit will create in us a willingness to be content with such things as we have in Christ Jesus! Therefore, let us not be anxious, but let us wholly trust in God in the midst of so much greedy advertisements and fear tactics! Let us place our trust in Him who died for us.
A Few Final Words:
According to Jesus, our focus should be in seeking first the kingdom of God. And as we do so, all things that we have need of, according to Jesus will be added to us. The problem lies in that our wants and the desires of our flesh grow well beyond our actual needs. How easily are we distracted from the true basics of life on earth. Let us therefore repent of our desiring all that the world has to offer!
As our focus is removed from seeking first the kingdom of God, our eyes and our hearts become more and more drawn to the lusts of our flesh and toward the things of this world, and therefore away from seeking first the kingdom of God. We simply cannot have it both ways. We must decide to follow Christ and the New Testament teachings of contentment, or lose our life spiritually due to our desire to gain or remain in control of our lives and our current circumstances. Let us let God be in control!
Our trusting God unlocks the door to our faith, whether little or large. And if we truly trust Him for our eternal salvation, how can we not trust Him for our basic needs of tomorrow? For according to Jesus, “If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?”
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, create in us a desire to seek first Your kingdom, which will increase our faith and trust in You and in Your Word. Teach us to not be led astray by the many evil voices in the world today. Let us be found listening to Jesus. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 