Matthew 6:25 "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?26 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?27 And can any of you by worrying
add a single hour to your span of life?28 And why do you worry about
clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil
nor spin,29 yet I tell you, even Solomon
in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.30 But if God so clothes the
grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith?31 Therefore do not worry,
saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?'32 For it is the Gentiles who
strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you
need all these things.33 But strive first for the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you
as well.34 "So do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough
for today.
This
passage is not an invitation to live without forethought. We are to use our
God-given talents and skills to sustain ourselves, clothe ourselves and to
provide for our families. This is not an invitation to lazy dependence on the
provision of others!
It
is an invitation to live without the crippling, life-negating, energy sapping
force of worry. Jesus invited his followers to live in a way that affirms our
lives as a gift of God. When we choose to believe that God has created us, and that
God continues to guide us through each day – then we do not need to “worry about tomorrow”. This
frees us to live fully into whatever today brings, and trust that God will be
waiting for me when tomorrow arrives.
Ordinary 22 / Pentecost +15
44 True Greatness
The Scripture passage
for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other
Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 271.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.
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