Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Take Therefore No Thought...

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.--Matthew 6:34

 To My Beloved Daughters in Him:

 This is the third time the phrase "take no thought" is used in Matthew 6.  All of us are faced with troubles and trials in this life.  They are a great equalizer among men...Job 5 says, Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward."  A rich man concerns himself with his worldly goods..a poor man worries about his immediate physical need.  Either focus is worldly in the sense that it  take our our minds off of God...and places them on the things of the world.  Jesus says, "TAKE THEREFORE NO THOUGHT."  (emphasis mine)  

 Look at what comes right before this verse in Matthew Chapter 6:  

  “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.--Matthew 6:31-33:

 Seek first the things of God and of His Kingdom....make your priorities heavenly ones and all the rest will be added unto you.  Beloved, live your lives in the here and now.  Focus on the eternal in the moment.  God gives us manna for the day....He gives us our DAILY bread.  He will be with us according to our need in the moment.  His grace is sufficient and as our days are so shall our strength be.  Tackle today's problems with today's strength. ( are you getting the message...I probably need several more admonitions to get the message through to my own heart ) The word sufficient here in the Greek means enough; being possessed with unfailing strength.  It carries with it the idea of raising a barrier...I like that...as if to say to your worry..this far and no further...SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAY!!   

 Look at the farmer...he plows,  he sows and he reaps.  In this sense he does prepare for tomorrow and the future.   Planning for the future, however, should never be his or our main focus or concern.  It should not dominate our thoughts.  The future should NEVER TRUMP today.  Beloved, we are not sufficient of our ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves....OUR SUFFICIENCY IS FROM HIM.  Abide in His word...seek His truth....store up yourselves treasure in heaven where no one and no thing can take them away.  

 Today I remind each of us of the names given to our God in the Old Testament.  A name in the Old Testament was not only used to identify someone but it was his identity...a name revealed who someone was...it revealed his character.   Here are the names given to our God...the Great I AM or the Becoming One...the One who becomes for us whatever our need might be.  When worry and concern for tomorrow creep in, meditate on these.  

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)