| And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches
in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19 |
Fellow Believers,Virtually every Christian is familiar with the passage in Matthew 6 where Jesus tells us not to worry about our life or what we'll eat or drink. "The pagans run after all these things," He says, "and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Nevertheless, most of us still worry a lot. Whenever something comes along to threaten our health, our jobs or our belongings, we begin to imagine all kinds of bad things that might happen to us.
It's easy to understand why the pagans run after all these things. They don't have an Heavenly Father who has promised to meet their needs. But we do. Why then do we worry so much?
One common reason, I believe, is that we are not sure God means exactly what He says. After all, we see many unemployed Christians recently losing their homes because they couldn't pay their mortgages. Evidently, God hasn't met all their needs.
Actually, God may still be working in those Christians, teaching them patience and the secret of being content. "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it," the Bible says in I Timothy 6:7,8, "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."
Another reason, I believe, is that we've misunderstood what He has promised because we have not read His promise carefully. We gloss over the word "first" in "Seek first his kingdom", and the word "added" in "all these things shall be added unto you".
You see, God wants us to make seeking His kingdom and His righteousness the very first priority of our life. That involves our seeking, trusting and obeying our Savior in everything we do and think. If we don't, we may not even be children of His. Then, there simply are no spiritual blessings in addition to which God would meet our physical needs.
On our own, of course, we cannot have that kind of faith and desire. But with God's help, our mind can be renewed so that we no longer behave like the pagans. Considering what a great blessing it is to have a worry-free life, why not seek indeed first His kingdom and His righteousness. And rest assured that God will add all the rest unto you.
First Quarter, 1993