Nov 23 - Matthew 6:25-26

Jesus said,

Therefore I tell you,

do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or what you will drink,

or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food,

and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air;

they neither sow nor reap

nor gather into barns, and yet

your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:25-26

Do you know what Jehovah-Jireh means?

We sing it in a song that slurs into a rhyme: "Jehovah-Jireh, my provideh." Literally, it is "God-our-provider."

In our world today, we look at money (and the jobs or governments who provide our money) as our providers. "Let's be realistic," we say, "we need money to survive, right?" And if we have more month than money, we worry about what we will eat and what we will drink and what we will wear. We worry, indeed, about how we will pay the rent. 

I am not denying these things. Three days ago, I personally packed 2500 or 10000 meals to send to places where hunger is more than a worry. It is a daily battle (and an utter desperation when it involves your kids). 

Jesus does not deny this. (Indeed, our Savior spends a lot of time -- as does all of scripture -- imploring humanity to break the cycle of sin and share with the poor ... trusting that even in sharing there will be enough ... because God truly is our provideh.)

Yet as important as are food and generosity and worrilessness and trust-in-the-God who-provides-generously-for-even-the-birds-of-the-air, Jesus sneaks in an even more transcendent point when he asks this question: "Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"

Tomorrow we'll discuss this deeper point. For today, we'll settle on these three questions to ponder ...

 

·         If God is the true, generous, and gracious provider, why do I keep worrying about money, food, and a variety of things? 

 

·         If I currently have enough financial blessing to not be worrying too much daily, what is my personal call to generosity?

 

·         And finally, I've left a hint for tomorrow: What does God provide more transcendently than money, food, and the things we otherwise worry about?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who tries to think

more about sharing what I do have

than I worrying about what I don't have