Luke 12:22-34 English Standard Version Do Not Be Anxious 22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. This teaching connects with the Parable of the Rich Fool that we just studied. The Rich Fool tried to be self-sufficient and had to worry about taking care of all of his needs, because he did not want to give God glory or worship Him properly (giving God himself first before any stuff that he might give to the LORD). Jesus tells His disciples that they can be wiser than this foolish man by realizing that everything they have proceeds from heaven and that their Heaven Father knows all their needs and desires to teak care of them in a way that shows them and everyone else that His children can depend on Him.
Jesus points to some things in nature and argues from the lesser to the greater. If God takes care of the things like the grass and the birds, how much more will He take care of people who were made in His image to have a relationship with Him, reflect His glory, and be his vice-regents to have dominion over all the Earth? There is something special about man and if we see the LORD taking care of the plants and the animals in a way where they have no need to worry about anything, then we neither should worry about anything, because our God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory. (See Philippians 4:19). Jesus then tells the people that if they worry about things like clothing and food they are proving to have faith that is no better than the Gentiles, for they did not believe in good gods that provided for their needs and they imagined they needed to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. God's relationship with His people is supposed to be different so that all the nations of the world would see that their God was the one and only true God and all the other gods and goddesses were imposters not worthy of any worship. But you may ask, what about death? Isn't that something we should be worried about? We never know when it's going to happen and we know that God will eventually permit it to happen to everyone. Jesus specifically talks about this and says that death is not something to be afraid of either (at least, not if you are in Christ, for Christ has conquered Death). The grass of the field may wither up and dry in the hot sun or be cut down and used as fuel for someone's over. It is here today and gone tomorrow and, seemingly, no one will miss it. We may feel like that sometimes, but Jesus says that we're much more valuable then the grass of the field. Jesus also talks about the birds and how none of them dies without the LORD knowing about it, and we are much more valuable than them. So then we can be certain that even if it seems that no one else cares if we live or die, God cares and death will not come upon us until it is the time He allows it to. Once it comes upon us, there is nothing we can really do to stop it. Life and death are in the hands of the LORD--not the scientist, not the doctor, and not even in the religious who have their many rituals that they imagine to force God to do what they demand (like extend their lives). There is no such thing as someone dying unexpectedly to God or someone dying "too young" to God. We all die when the days that the LORD has numbered for us are over. We must make the most of every day that we have because we are not promised the next day or even the next breath, but that is no cause to worry. We just need to live each moment of each day in obedience and service to the one who our great Lord and Master and will protect us, defend us, and totally provide for us, but now and in eternity. There is no need for us to fear or worry (which come when we put our faith in ourselves and our circumstances) if we have full faith and confidence in God. The one who could speak all creation into existence out of nothing has the power and the resources to take care of us--even to speak and make that which was dead into that which is alive. In the last paragraph, Jesus reminds His disciples that they are His sheep and it is the job of the Good Shepherd to care for His sheep. They are also His little children that He provides for, and He is going to provide the best for them--the kingdom of heaven, so they need not worry about anything they may feel deprived of here on earth. We should freely and willingly give our possessions to those in need trust that God is using us to help take care of those people and in the same way He will take care of us too. Even when we feel we are the ones who are impoverished and in need, for this shows that we truly know where our resources come from and that we truly trust God to take care of us and provide us with everything we need (but not everything we want). We are to store up for ourselves treasure in heaven--that is, we should not be seeking earthly wealth that cannot save us and cannot take care of our greatest needs. There is only one who can atone for our sins and conquer death so that even to "die" physically is to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. That's not something to fear. That's something to celebrate and look forward to (though we don't use this as a mechanism to escape the duties that the Lord has given us here and now because life and death are in His hands, we do not take them into our own hands). Those who take their own lives have also shown that they do not trust God to provide good things for them and they see their only option as for them to take control and make what they believe to be their present misery and suffering end. For some, death cannot even provide escape from misery, pain, suffering and even torment and torture, for that is what awaits those who die outside of Christ. So then it is important for those of us who are in Christ to live like it and die like it and not confuse the world where they see opportunity to say that we do not trust God to take care of us in life or death because we try to control and manipulate our own circumstances and try to remain self-reliant and self-sufficient. This may be the American Way, but it is not God's way. The last thing Jesus says in this passage is that where your treasure is (the things that you consider valuable), there your heart will be also. There are only two kingdoms of which your heart can be a citizen. You can either belong to the kingdom of this world or the kingdom of heaven. This world and all that it values will one day be judged by fire and will be destroyed and all of its citizens will be tried by fire and found wanting and they will suffer an eternity of separation from God in the place called The Lake of Fire that was made for the devil and his angels. Those that belong to Christ are part of the kingdom of heaven where the One that we value most is there, but also we tell others about Jesus so that they too may become citizens of the kingdom of heaven and they may be there too. This is a great treasure to "build up" in heaven not for ourselves, but for our God who desires to save a remnant for Himself and desires to have people from every tribe, tongue, nation, people group, and ethnicity that He has redeemed worship Him for all eternity and He will be their God and they will be His people. So, continue to do the work that God calls you to do--that is one kind of treasure to build up in heaven that we will lay our good works at the feet of Jesus because everything good we did was done in us and through us by His power and He deserves the recognition, and then the other way is for us to continue to fulfill The Great Commission. It is clear from this passage that God values His relationship with people and that He desires for them to have all their needs met by Him, including their greatest need for salvation. Be about the business of telling others how they can be adopted into God's family where they will have a heavenly Father who will provide for all their needs so they don't have to worry about anything. Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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