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Main Idea: Instead of worrying, trust God and put Him first. Then He will meet your needs.
What I Learned About God: 1. God knows your needs 2. God must be served and sought alone 3. God provides for your needs
Summary: Jesus explains the traits of a disciple. The loyalties of a disciple cannot be divided. You cannot serve two masters. You can only really have one master: either God is your master, or He is not; you are either serving Him, or you are serving something else. There is no middle-ground in this. Jesus frames this principle by addressing a very specific problem: worry. Specifically, Jesus addresses the problem of worry as idolatry - in essence, serving your worries and anxieties rather than serving God. Verse 24 ends with a very clear distinction: "You cannot serve God and money." Although it is money that is explicitly stated, the following verses explain what that money was used for. Money back then, much like today, went towards food, drink, and clothes. These were real needs and real issues that the disciples faced in their lives (perhaps not so much the clothing) and worry for these things seem reasonable enough. Jesus, however, tells his disciples not to worry. Easier said than done, surely - that is, until you know who God is. Jesus proceeds to describe the incredible provisions of the Father. It is He who feeds the birds abundantly; it is He who clothes the lilies so richly. And Jesus adds comfort, making a point to show how much more precious people are to God than the birds of the air and the lilies of the field are. If He takes care of these things, Jesus makes the striking point that surely the Father will provide all the more for the needs of the creatures made in his own image. God knows what you need. But these needs are secondary. They are never the main thing; God is. Jesus says: "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (33; emphasis added). When God is the main thing, he will handle all your needs. Thus, excessive worry is unnecessary and detrimental. Now, we return to verse 24. When you serve your worries and try to accrue money for the sake of meeting your needs, God is in the periphery. In actuality, Jesus tells us how it should be: everything else is in the periphery with God as the focus. There is a lesson in this: we must trust God and have faith that He provides for our needs. In this way, we can serve Him alone without distraction from worry.
Application: Sometimes, I worry about the future, both immediate and not so immediate. Whichever way, I don't see a lot of money coming my way. One thing that I think about is how I'm going to pay off school. I don't consider 'not worrying' to mean 'blissful ignorance', but in faithfulness to God and in serving God, I know there will be a way. If anything, I take 'not worrying' to be synonymous with trust. God will meet my needs. Knowing who God is really is a comforting thing. I don't have to worry about selling my soul to become rich because money really is not the ultimate thing. I just have to trust God as I serve him.
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