This first week in January Michael writes: God’s revelation about living life is in the kingdom of the King of Kings. Life in Christ is diametrically opposed to the kingdom of this world. The kingdom and kingdoms of this world will soon come to naught … they are here today and gone tomorrow. However, life in the spirit of the living God lives and abides forever. The things of this world will soon be past, only that which is done in Christ shall last.
In Matthew 6:24 and following Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Jesus said, you cannot serve worldly riches and God at the same time. The motto of the United States is “In God We Trust.” There is irony in this American motto inscribed on our coins and currency. The irony is that most Americans trust in Money as their god instead of the Lord God Jehovah; their Creator. The great American dream is to pursue money and the things money can buy instead of pursuing God.
How do you worship God instead of material things? The pursuit of happiness is not in seeking the blessing, but in seeking the Blessor. Jesus continued in Matthew 6: 25-29: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
It’s easy to be distracted by the cares and the physical things of this life. Worry over the physical things that sustain our mortal bodies drive men and women to anxiety. Doubt, worry, and fear separate our hearts from the pursuit of the Lord. However, as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. God is our sufficiency…. He is the one who provides all our needs. God has given us the resources of this world and has called us to steward the things with which He has entrusted us. We’re called to administer with our hands the material goods He has proved for us and then minister with a heart of love the relationships that He has called us to nurture. These things include: our work, our time, and our money. We serve with a heart of love our spouses, our families, and our brothers and sisters within the body of Christ.
When our heart is set on the things of the world, when is enough going to be enough? Worldly things cannot satisfy permanently. There is a constant craving, an insatiable appetite and a continuous hunger for the material things that we cannot obtain. The materialistic world says, “He who dies with the most toys wins”. However, from God’s eternal perspective, He who dies with the most toys is dead. You can’t take it with you. Despite the cares and concerns of this life, Jesus knows our every weakness. He also knows what we really need.
Let's continue Micheal's message on God's sufficiency for us in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment