#10. March 9, 2015
2015 Devotional. These passages are taken from: “100 Verses Every Christian Needs to Know” by Freeman-Smith. All passages are from the NIV.
Matt. 6: 33-34 “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.”
This passage is part of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”, Mt. 5-7. In these three chapters Jesus turns the rules and ideas of the legalistic religious leaders of the day upside down.
Chapter 6 starts out with pretending to have type fruit of the Spirit : giving (v. 1-4). There was money giving to the temple at the time that was for the purpose of impressing people and giving that was no effort, giving out of abundance. (Mk. 12;43-44) There is a way of praying that does not please God (v. 5-15). Some people and leaders prayed in public for the purpose of appearing more righteous than others. In the end Jesus teaches us a simple prayer (see Dev. #4 Jan. 26 2015). Jesus includes fasting (v. 16-18): fasting used and abused by people/ leaders seeking to glorify themselves. Jesus moves on to idolatry: (v. 19-24) mainly our treasure, He draws a comparison of temporary treasure and permanent treasure stored in heaven. From treasure Jesus moves to a related subject, worry, (v. 25-32) worrying about all that we need in life is natural. Yet, Jesus points out that excessive worry about all that we need in this life is a lack of faith and he reminds us that God “knows that you need them”.
Jesus is moving us to prioritize. The two verses that we are looking at the end of this chapter are a summary of what goes on before it and answers questions raised by chapter six. Jesus says, “seek God’s Kingdom first”, this must be a believer’s priority. God’s Kingdom is in our hearts. “Open the eyes of our hearts Lord?” And seek His righteousness first. Are we to perform acts of righteousness like giving, praying, and fasting? Yes! but it begins in the heart. The acts of righteousness we read about in the first part of chapter six did not come from the heart but from selfish ambition. When believers have their priorities correct all that is mentioned in chapter six will be given to us. We will have all we need physically, and spiritually. Jesus also addresses the issue of anxiety. Live today, let God take care of tomorrow. Who knows tomorrow? Don’t drag tomorrow’s troubles into the day God has given us today. This is the faith issue that we struggle with when we think about the future. Allow God to take care of today! Allow God to take care of tomorrow! He has the believer’s best interest in mind. Praise Him!
Heavenhigh 