Matthew 6

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Matthew 6:33-34,  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 

In this block of Sermon on the Mount teaching, Jesus focuses on prayer, fasting, and giving of one’s resources.  He warns against behaving like the Pharisees who seek attention for their piety; it’s almost a show for them.  Instead, Jesus compels his followers to be sincere in their devotion and obedience to God.  It’s not about what others think – there truly is just an audience of one.  The only approval we should seek is God’s.   

As Jesus closes his teaching on money, he flows right into a discussion on worry.  It points to the relationship between money and worry.  When we don’t have enough money, we tend to worry.  When we have a lot of money, we tend to worry about its safekeeping or what we will spend it on.  Think about the first listeners to this teaching.  Most would have been quite poor and truly just living hand to mouth.  And to this group, who we might think had legitimate cause to be seriously anxious, Jesus tells them not to worry about the basic things of the world.  God’s going to take care of them. 

I once read that 98% of the things we worry about never come to fruition.  Worry, my friends, is a royal waste of time.  It is useless.  It causes us serious distress and steals today’s joy.   I am not saying this because I have somehow mastered the art of not worrying.  I worry way too much but I am working on it.  I recognize that the root of worry is a lack of trust in God.  Thus, I make a decision every day to trust God, I’m constantly giving things to God, and I’m working very hard on not taking them back. 

Which worries do you need to give to God today? 

Let’s pray…Lord, Take our worries, our cares, our struggles, and our burdens.  They are too heavy for us and we know that your hands are so much more capable than our own.  Increase our trust.  More of you and less of me, Jesus.  Amen.