Worries?

I have been pondering the entire concept of worldly wisdom. And worry. About many things, but especially, for this blog, about material possessions. Jesus only mentions food and clothing. But doesn’t that just about sum it up? Possibly anything more is extra and certainly not worthy of worry.


Matt 6:24 – No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [money].


Note that it says you cannot -- not that you should not. If in any given situation I am being consumed with money, however so, then for that situation, I am not serving God. Let's be honest with ourselves.


25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?


26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?


The Message reads:

25-26"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.


Ladies -- (and some of you gents) -- where are we here? Again, let's be honest.


27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.


33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Too often, we forget this passage. It has become too routine for us.

34 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.

Another passage specifically addresses the issue of our own wisdom: I Cor 1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” And then on to verses 20-31.

My own observation has been that many of our worries are based on our own wisdom, rather than trusting God.

Wisdom, prudence. What store we place in them. Should we exercise them on a regular basis? Yes. Should we put store and trust in them? No.

Passions

I was recently told by a good friend that my passion was music. This disturbed me. For actually, while it is true that I love music passionately, I also love several other things passionately -- the English language, fresh air, people.

But are any of these things My Passion? No. I have one. That is Jesus and what He did for me on the cross. Period. That includes a burning desire to see people around me set free from the self-inflicted prisons they are in and the darkness they embrace without realizing it. But it all goes back to Him. Jesus.