Daily Devotional For Monday, November 4, 2024
Welcome back to Monday. You may be at work, or at school or at home. I pray you enjoyed and took advantage of an extra hour of sleep on Saturday night. We are making our way through Jesus’ sermon, The Sermon On The Mount. You can read it for yourself in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. Currently, we are in Matthew 6:25-34:
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (26) Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? (27) And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? (28) And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, (29) yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. (30) But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! (31) Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ (32) For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (34) “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (NASB).
In verses 27-30, Jesus affirms that we cannot add a single day to our lives by worrying. Just the opposite – we can take years off our lives by worrying. To help see the foolishness and the waste in worry, Jesus draws upon nature as an example – the lilies of the field. It does not require a microscope to see the intricate details of any flower, especially lilies. We marvel at their beauty, but if we put them under a microscope, something ancient people could not do, we are even more amazed at their intricacy. Even the wealthiest man ever, Solomon, cannot compare to how lilies clothe themselves.
In Jesus’ day only the rich spent a lot of their time foaming at the mouth over their luxurious clothes. Today, Jesus brings an indictment against us for how much time, money and effort we spend shopping and lusting after stylish clothing. It is sinful because it only leads to pride. We have more clothes stores and other retailers who carry clothing than “Carter has pills.” Many people make an idol out of their clothes and fashions.
If you have ever given or received flowers, you know they do not last long. They last a day or two and begin to lose their petals and beauty. Jesus said, just like the grass, they are thrown into the furnace. The Greek New Testament word translated as “furnace” is [κλίβανος, kilbanos]. This word refers to an oven. Pastor and author John MacArthur writes:
“Such ovens were made of hardened clay and were used primarily for baking bread. When a woman wanted to hurry the baking process, she would build a fire inside the oven as well as under it. Fuel for the inside heating was usually composed of dried grass and flowers gathered from nearby fields. Once the flower’s beauty was gone it had little use except to be burned up as fuel for baking. Then it was gone” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 424).
Jesus’ point is if God is concerned to array the lilies of the field with such beauty, though it is short-lived, how much more is He concerned for us, His very own children, when it comes to clothing and food. To worry about such things, at the end of verse 30, Jesus says, “You of little faith!” (NASB). Such a person does not worry about the most important aspect to their life – their eternal salvation and eternal destiny, but then they worry about temporary stuff. Four other times, Jesus said, “O yea of little faith!”:
- Matthew 8:26, “He said to them, `Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?’ Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm” (NASB).
- Matthew 14:31, “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (NASB).
- Matthew 16:8, “But Jesus, aware of this, said, `You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?’” (NASB).
- Luke 12:28, “But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!” (NASB).
Jesus says to us: “You’ve got to be kidding Me. You will trust Me to save you, sanctify you and secure you a home in heaven, but you will not trust Me to clothe and feed you?” How foolish and distrusting we can be. To quote pastor and author John MacArthur again:
“Worry is not a trivial sin, because it strikes a blow both at God’s love and at God’s integrity. Worry declares our heavenly Father to be untrustworthy in His Word and His promises. To avow belief in the inerrancy of Scripture and in the next moment to express worry is to speak out of both sides of our mouths. Worry shows that we are mastered by our circumstances and by our own finite perspectives and understanding rather than by God’s Word. Worry is therefore not only debilitating and destructive but maligns and impugns God” (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 425).
This is why we must be in God’s Word on a daily basis. We must keep God’s Word in our hand so that it stays in our heart. When we fail to do that, our enemy, the devil, will begin to plant seeds of doubt in the soil of our heart, which quickly germinates. Worry pushes God away and invites the devil into our lives. Listen to Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (NASB).
New Testament scholar William Barclay says these things about worry:
- Worry is needless, useless and even injurious. People who worry develop coronary heart disease, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and typically die sooner. Not only is laughter the best medicine, other than Scripture, it is sometimes the best medicine other than the Bible.
- Worry is blind. Worry refused to learn the lessons of life even from nature. With Jesus Christ, we are able to bear the unbearable.
- Worry is anti-Christ. In the same circumstances, one person can be absolutely serene and another can be worried to death. Both worry and serenity come not from circumstances, but from our hearts. Listen to this illustration Barclay gives below:
Johann Tauler,was the fourteenth-century German Christian mystic. One day, Tauler met a beggar. ‘God give you a good day, my friend,’ he said. The beggar answered: ‘I thank God I never had a bad one.’ Then Tauler said: ‘God give you a happy life, my friend.’ ‘I thank God’, said the beggar, ‘I am never unhappy.’ Tauler in amazement said: ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Well,’ said the beggar, ‘when it is fine, I thank God, when it rains, I thank God; when I have plenty, I thank God; when I am hungry, I thank God; and since God’s will is my will, and whatever pleases him pleases me, why should I say I am unhappy when I am not?’ Tauler looked at the man in astonishment. ‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘I am a king,’ said the beggar. ‘Where then is your kingdom?’ asked Tauler. And the beggar answered quietly: ‘In my heart’” (Source: William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, “The Gospel of Matthew,” pp.300-301).
There may be worse sins in our mind than worrying, but none are more disabling and destructive to our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. One more illustration by Clarence MacCartney:
“There is the tale of a young English farmhand who offered the farmer who hired him only one qualification for employment. He could sleep when the wind blows. Although the farmer interviewed several other candidates, he finally settled on this gangly, awkward-looking youth named John with the strange credentials. The first time a terrific storm blew up in the middle of the night, the farmer learned his hired hand’s value. He ran to the bottom of the attic stairs to get John to help him. Then he ran on ahead and found, to his surprise, the stable doors locked, the horses safe in the barn, the cattle secure in the stable, stacks of grain and hay already tied down, and all the cows, pigs, and sheep safely inside. John, by the way, never left his bed in the attic. He could sleep when the wind blows” (Source: Clarence MacCartney, Along Life’s Highway, pp. 68-70).
Questions To Consider
- What keeps you up at night and why?
- When you have a concern, is your first response Jesus Christ or to worry or to attempt to solve it yourself? Why?
- How often are you in the Word applying it to your life? Why? If you trust Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation and eternal destiny, why do you not trust Him for all the concerns of your daily life?
Scripture to Meditate On: Isaiah 25:3, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, it really is foolish, sinful and untrusting of me to trust You with something like my eternal salvation but not my daily concerns. I want to be able to sleep when the storms come because I have You and Your kingdom in my heart. Please forgive me when I doubt You. I love You, Jesus! In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly