‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what
you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more
than food, and the body more than clothes? Look
at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you
by worrying add a single hour to your life?
‘And
why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do
not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour
was dressed like one of these. If
that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and
tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you
of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What
shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For
the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6: 25 – 33
When our sons were younger, they used to burst in through
the front door after school and cry, ‘Feed me!’ They then rushed to the fridge
and cupboard to rootle around till they found what they wanted to eat and
drink.
There was no hanging back cautiously to see if it was
alright to come into the house or to raid the fridge. They didn't beg or plead
with me. This was their home, I was their mother and therefore it was perfectly
acceptable to expect to be fed without any begging or argument.
Not only so but provision was assured. Apart from the odd
day when I may not have been shopping, it was expected that food would be on
hand. Children expect their parents to
feed them as well as protect and shelter them.
Why then as Christians do we have so much trouble relying on
God to be our heavenly provider? He is
our Father and wants to look after us just as we want to look after our children.
Most parents would be horrified if their children spurned their provision and
went off to the shops to buy their own things. It is one of the joys of
parenthood to provide for your children.
God does not want us worrying about money, food, clothes,
jobs, homes and so on. We can expect God
to provide these. That is his privilege as our Father and it is our
privilege to receive them as his children with thankful hearts.
The key to this provision is to seek first God’s Kingdom and
his righteousness; to put God, his ways, his lifestyle above all else. At the
start of a new year let’s resolve to seek God in all we do and to stop worrying
about life and let God be the provider he longs to be.
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