Thoughts

 

Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Matthew 6:33-34 says, “ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

A new word that is used a lot these days is the word, “downsizing.” As companies are forced to reduce their staff in order to make payroll and a profit at the same time, the number of employees gets reduced. You can downsize a lot of things in your life including cars, houses, computers, appliances and so forth. My wife and I have dowsnsized our accomodations from a two bedroom house to a one room in a n assisted living facility. Everything that could not be put into the one room has been disposed of in one way or another. I have discovered that I didn't need most of the things that are no longer in my possession. That brings up the point, “What do I need in order to live in this world?”

I need a place to sleep, clothes to put on and food to eat. Beginning at verse 25, we see the comparison of human life to that of the birds of the air and flowers. In the narrative, God Matthew points out that God provides all that is needed for the both of these items. The birds of the air do not plant seeds and harvest a crop and then put it into barns as we do, yet God provides for them in such a way that they do not have to do anything but to rely on Him. Flowers are an excellent display of God's handiwork and they are present for only a short time before being destroyed or just plain falling off the stem. Human life is far more important and so it stands to reason that God will take care of that which is more important but uses the insignificant to point out His work even for birds and flowers. There is, however, one qualification and it is that the human being needs to seek first the things of God. God will then take care of the rest. The culture of the age, however, seeks more downsize the “seeking” for the kingdom of God than his or her collection of material things. People would work on Sunday in order to make more money to buy more shoes, clothes, recreation items than they are in regards to the kingdom of God. The average price of a superbowl ticket was between $4,000 and $5,000. It only lasted one evening for about three hours plus all of the hype to get there, food and beverages and gettijng back home. Seeking the Kingdom of God is basically free and has eternal consequences which means that it lasts forever. Some people would gladly accept a ticket to a football game but refuse an invitation to church or to a “gospel” event. They would also not think for very long about the game offer before they accept it. On the other hand, some people will tempt God by delaying their decision for a more convenient time before they willing submit to seeking after the kingdom of God. Praise God for His offer for eternal salvation.