I want to start this week by giving thanks to the Lord that we didn't get hit by the violent weather that was forecasted where I live. I also want to thank the Lord for providing me with quite a bit of writing work this week.
This week was a terrible week for the people of Boston and Texas. Let us all pray that God will bring healing and comfort to those who were injured in these incidents. May the Lord comfort those who lost friends and loved ones this week.
Here in the little town where I live we had a scare with ammonia leaking at one of the grain elevators close to town. This was about 25 years ago. We had to evacuate because they thought there might be an explosion. Thankfully, everything was contained.
In last week's message, I talked about Jesus' teaching that a person cannot serve two masters. Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and money.
I won't go over all that I said last week. I just want to say that as followers of Jesus, we should be very diligent in how we live our lives. We get so caught up in the here and now and we think that this life is so important. We lose sight of the big picture.
I like to think of things this way. Imagine the beaches all along the Atlantic Ocean. Now picture in your mind one grain of sand along all of the ocean beaches. The space of life that we are living right now is like that little grain of sand compared to the vastness of eternity that is represented by all of those beaches.
We get concerned about the accumulation of houses, retirement funds, cars and all the rest. We spend our lives on pursuing careers and trying to gain worldly possessions and fame. In Jesus' view, this is of little importance.
This life is the testing ground for eternity. We need to focus on eternal values and get our focus off of the here and now so much. If we can do that and get our focus off the perverted values of monetary gain that is the god of this world, we can focus on the eternal values of Christ and His kingdom.
I know that this is hard, but don't compromise the way of the cross for temporary monetary gain. As Jesus said, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his own soul. What will a man give in exchange for this soul."
We now move on and focus on the rest of Jesus teachings on this subject. Jesus says in chapter 6 verse 25 of Matthew, "For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on, is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing."
I believe that there are two interpretations for this verse and the verses that follow in chapter 6. I'll try to explain both of these this week and next.
First of all, Jesus begins by saying, "For this reason..." What reason? Because we are to lay up treasure in Heaven and not on earth, and because the followers of Jesus cannot serve God and money, because of this, we do not need to be anxious for our life, food, drink or clothing.
Jesus will go on in this chapter to tell us that we as His followers do not need to worry about life's necessities if we are seeking the things of God in our life. We do not need to worry about life, because the Lord will take of those who are His own.
Some hold to the interpretation that what Jesus means is that a true follower of Jesus will never suffer lack or not have enough to meet his needs. Many who teach prosperity teach that all true faithful Christians should be wealthy. I don't feel that this interpretation is correct, I don't understand it, and I don't think that this is the idea that Jesus is communicating at all.
For one thing, as I mentioned last week, Jesus Himself gave us the example of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was a righteous man who was absolutely destitute. He had nothing. He was homeless. He didn't have enough clothes, and he may have died of starvation. Then in the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews says that many of the prophets were completely destitute.
Let us look at our own day. Many people who follow Jesus around this world suffer greatly. Being a Christian doesn't make someone immune from disease, homelessness, hunger or other problems. I remember of few years ago that many Christian people in Africa died during a great famine.
I believe that Jesus is saying something about hope and eternity in this passage in Matthew 6:25-34. I've said this before, and it is the way that I interpret Scripture. The promises of the Bible are ultimate promises. We live in a fallen world, and bad things are going to happen. Not everything works out the way we want it to just because we know Jesus. If we have faith in Jesus and seek His way, ultimately, all will be will. That is where our hope lies.
If we seek first the kingdom of God, it really doesn't matter what happens to us in this physical life. I think that this is really what Jesus is saying here. We may be like Lazarus and end up with absolutely nothing, but our ultimate reward and bliss is provided by God. If we are faithful, we will spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven and rule and reign with Him when He returns to this earth. What we will have in eternity is so much greater than anything this world offers.
Because we are in the hands of the Lord, Jesus tells us that we don't need to be anxious or worry about what happens to us. God will provide. He may not provide everything in the present temporal reality, but all will ultimately be well. We can have hope and assurance that Jesus has prepared a place for us, and all is well and all will be well.
This is what I focus on in my hard times. As I said last week, I was wiped out financially. Each month has been a struggle to find a way to pay the electric bill that has gone up 40% in the last two years. The Lord has been faithful, and I have a home and enough to eat. But I am barely getting by. However, even if the Lord doesn't provide all of the material things I need right now, I know that all is well and all will be well. I placed my trust in Jesus Christ many years ago. I know without a doubt that when I die I will be with Jesus and I will be reunited with my family. That is what matters. Everything will be fine then. When that day comes, the trials of life I have now will amount to nothing.
The important thing to remember is we must faithfully follow the Lord no matter what circumstance we are in. We must follow the teachings and the commandments of Jesus. Because of Jesus, all is well and all will be well. I invite you to trust in Jesus today as your Lord if you do not know Him.
Next week, we will wrap up chapter 6 and move on to chapter 7. I will post another chapter of the book about Toby on Wednesday. May Jesus Christ be praised. Amen.
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