Today’s Bible Reading

Read Matthew 6:19-43

And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth.—Matthew 6:28

More thoughts for meditation

The Sermon on the Munt is one of the main teaching opportunities for Jesus, and it is one of the primary discourses in Matthew (a Gospel oriented around Jesus’ discourses). It is a cohesive teaching. But the translation committees of many Bibles divide the teaching into topical sections—which can be convenient for easy searching, but compartmentalizes the teaching too much. So today, read the full passage above without headings and see how Jesus links it all together.

He starts by warning against storing up earthly treasures because we end up storing them in our hearts that way. And then he proceeds to tell us that our corrupted hearts mean we serve an alternative master (see yesterday’s post about loyalty to God), and we can’t serve two master. We’ll love one and hate the other (this is why in Romans 6, Paul says that we are no longer mastered by sin, we are mastered by Jesus).

And then comes the longer section on not worrying. Jesus ties worrying to our desire for treasure and money. We seek after it because we’re worried we won’t have enough. So our pursuit of money and treasure through labor indicates our lack of faith. God knows what we need and God will provide for us. We ask for what we need and seek God’s kingdom and justice, and all of these things will be given to us.

Suggestions for action

Jesus says “Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life?” Jesus knows that our fear and worry motivates our working for treasure and money. But despite all of that work under the sun, we find out that it’s pointless, because eternal life has already been granted to us. Our worrying, and our working, doesn’t add more to our life, as if our lives are wages for good work. Jesus gifts us eternal life for free, changing our relationship to work, treasure, and money. No longer does fear or worry dominate us, but rather, we rest assured, knowing the God will honor her promises.