Let Me Not Wander

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. This has one of my favorite phrases. "...tomorrow will worry about itself." And it is true. Each day we are given the exact right amount of Grace for that day. When you try to dig into tomorrow, and maybe into some of the what-ifs that might happen, then you are delving into territory without the Grace to go with it.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Seek after the Kingdom of God. Seek after the Righteousness of God. That must be the goal. Everything is useless without it. Everything is empty without it! But the great God that we serve says that if we do seek Him first, then He will provide all the rest.

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. (NIV) What do you run after? Are you running after the stuff ? Or are you running after the one who provides the stuff ?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor 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, O you of little faith? In America, we worry about clothes in another way. We don't necessarily worry about whether or not we will have clothes, we worry about what they look like. How nice they are. We worry about whether or not our clothes are in style. But why should we worry about this? Will not our Father clothe us in exactly what we need?

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? I love this. It is almost silly, isn't it? I mean really, when has worrying about anything ever helped the situation? Sometimes there is action that needs to be taken, but that action is never to worry about it.

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? Kindof a redundant question, isn't it? We are obviously more valuable than some bird. God will give us exactly what we need each day. If He gives us more than what we need, then it will either be for a future need, or it will be to meet the needs of others.

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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (NIV) Food and clothes. The two things that are seemingly the most important in this life, and Jesus tells us not to worry about them.

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (NIV) This is a principle that is ignored way too much. We always think that we can serve as many master as there are hours in the day. We think that we can switch from one to the other like it is nothing. But "no one can serve two masters!" And that means no one! And according to this verse, if you try to serve two masters, you will grow resentful of one or the other.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (NIV) What do you put in? A few years ago I was making some CoCo Wheats. If you read the directions, it says that you need to add salt. So, being the excellent chef that I am, I followed the directions. Unfortunately, that isn't the way that mom used to make them! What did I end up with? Salty CoCo Wheats. Exactly what I put in, was what I ened up with. The same thing is true with your mind. So many times Christians like to reason out in their minds whether or not it is OK to watch something or listen to smomething, but the real thing to keep in mind is that whatever you allow in, will come back out. And, if what is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NIV) I think that this is probably one of the most important principles to learn. Whatever you value... that is where your heart will be. It just can't be any other way.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (NIV) Here is the alternative. There is a perfect place for treasure, a place that does not perish. The real question to ask is, "what does this mean?"

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (NIV) This is one of the first verses I had to memorize as a child. And I am now so thankful. Any treasure that we have shouldn't be about this earth. This earth is perishable. What do you treasure?

"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (NIV) Religious acts are not for others.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (NIV) Just like the verses before this, here is a great challenge. And also a little bit of a result if you do not forgive. Bot don't think of this as some kind of curse or threat, think of it as a description. Children of God are forgiving people. And people who do not forgive, are not children of God.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (NIV) Do we actually have to pray to God that He would not lead us into temptation? It would sure seem that way. But I think that this is more like the prayer for the daily bread. God is going to do these things, but in order to experience the working of God, we need to ask for these things. I don't believe that God is going to ever lead us into temptation, in another place in the Bible, it says that God cannot tempt anyone with evil. So this is simply for our benefit. Bottom line, this is the model for prayer, and Christ felt like this was important enough to put it in there, we should follow this example.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (NIV) Wow, I don't know if I want God to forgive me the way I have forgiven others. This is an awesome reminder to forgive. You should forgive others the way you want to be forgiven. Just think how many times you have done some of the same sins over and over, and you go to God asking His forgiveness. Yet when someone does something against you, you will have this attitude that says, "I will forgive you this time, but if you do it again, forget it!" How wrong is that!?! Consider today the extent of your forgiveness. And ask yourself if you could pray this part of the model.

Give us today our daily bread. (NIV) The bread-giver tells us to ask for our bread. But note, He tells us to ask for our daily bread. Why do you think that He does this?

your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (NIV) In this model of prayer, Jesus tells us to pray for the Kingdom of God to be taking place here, in the same way it is taking place in heaven. This is what we are striving to do in our own lives, to live with Christ as king.

"This, then, is how you should pray:   'Our Father in heaven,     hallowed be your name, (NIV) Here we start this famous prayer. I think that it is amazing how many people could quote this prayer. But this prayer wasn't meant to be memorized and quoted, it was meant to be a model of prayer. In this model, Jesus tells us to begin with God. All glory is to be given to Him, His name is hallowed , which means to render or acknowledge to be hallow. We are to begin our conversation with the Father, by acknowledging who He is. This is not only for Him, but it is also for us. It is a reminder of who we are talking to. Since the Bible says elsewhere, that we are to pray without ceasing, the carry this model over to every moment of your life. Begin with God. Acknowledge who He is.

"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (NIV) God does not need you to ask. He is not up on some cloud oblivious to your needs, thinking, "I wonder what that child of mine wants..." God wants you to ask, so that He can fulfill. He want you to grow in faith. The asking is really a part of obedience to Him. He desires us to grow more and more like Christ, and Christ brought everything to the Father. Seek to become more like Christ today, and bring your requests to Him.