Devotion

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Matthew 6:26-30 Message

My college roommate, Ron, had this saying, “Worry is the least productive of all human activity!” How true, but long before Ron was saying it, Jesus was teaching it; worry is pointless. You can’t change anything by worrying. That’s why Jesus commands you not to worry. The word worry actually means to strangle. Often times we get stressed out over things we have or don’t have, things we have to do and things we can’t do. The only thing worry does is strangle your faith. Worry prevents you from hearing clearly from God.

It takes 60 trillion droplets of fog to cover 7 city blocks. That is a huge number of droplets. It is enough to shut down an airport. Interestingly, when you condense all those droplets down it only amounts to a half a glass of water! Worry fogs up your spiritual life. Worry shuts down your spiritual airport. Worry is the absence of faith.

Jesus is challenging you not to fret over the frivolous, surfacy, physical things such as clothes, houses, cars, boats, possessions etc. When it comes to eternity, none of those things matter. What about food and drink? Jesus lumped food and drink in with the frivolous, physical things. Food and drink are essential! Jesus lumped them in with the frivolous, physical because He knows your greatest need in life is not physical, but spiritual. Your greatest need is not the house you really want, the car you desire, a certain job or relationship you’re seeking, but your greatest need is to have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. That’s spiritual food that lasts for eternity.

Jesus punctuates His care and concern for you by comparing you to birds and grass. They are valuable enough for Him to take care of, yet  you were created in His image. You are the apple of His eye. Jesus’ point is that you are so much more valuable to the Kingdom than birds and grass that of course He is going to take great care of you. Nothing can be accomplished by worrying except hurting the heart of God. Worry demonstrates a lack of trust in His ability to provide for you.

Jesus could tell the crowd was struggling to comprehend His goodness and depth of love for them and He asked this question, “Oh, you of little faith?” Notice there is not an exclamation point, but a question mark. It is not a reprimand. Jesus is not scolding the listeners for weak faith, but rather He recognized they had some faith. Ok, their faith wasn’t where Jesus had hoped it to be, but they had some faith and Jesus could work with that.

Jesus knows right where you are in your faith walk. He meets you right where you are and is able to work in your life with whatever faith you do have. From there it grows. And as you trust God, faith increases and worry decreases.

Finally, Jesus gave the key to a worry free life, “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.”  In other words, put God first in your life. By the way, that is the first of the Ten Commandments. Be passionate about getting to know Jesus better. With that, there is nothing to worry about. What’s left is faith, faith that will last.

The Story of the Wise and Foolish Builders

Matthew 7:24-27

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

Have you ever given someone good advice, they listened politely, but then chose to ignore what you suggested? This story presents much the same choice to you. Being counted among the wise means more than just listening to or reading the Word. To be considered wise you must also put the Word into practice; apply what you hear and read…live it out.

The house represents your life. What are you building your life on? You can choose to build on the solid rock foundation of God and His Word or you can choose to build your life on your own wisdom, going your own way as seems best to you. Either way, the storms of life will role in. You might wonder, “What’s the point? If storms, tough times, disappointments are going to come anyway, why should I live for the Lord?” Remember, although storms come to the wise and foolish only one foundation held up through the storms. God and His Word are the glue and mortar that will hold your life together through the storms of life.

How do you know you are building your life on the solid foundation of God and His Word? When your faith no longer depends on the weather around you. Most people do fine when the sun is shining. When family life is good, work is smooth, relationships are in tact and life in general is on the up and up. It’s easy to have faith and give God the glory in those times. But, what about when the unexpected storm blows in…the tragedy that turns your world up side down, the financial desert you journey through, the relationship that goes sour or any number and variety of storms that can unexpectedly blow in your direction? If your faith remains strong regardless of sunshine or rain that’s a great indication that you’re building your life on solid ground.

Many people are under the assumption that if they pray more, go to church and serve regularly that God somehow owes them happiness or good times; a storm free life. God does not owe you anything. He already gave you everything in His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus did not die on the cross so you could be happy and enjoy a storm free life. Jesus died and rose again so you could be forgiven. That is your real need, forgiveness not happiness.

One of my favorite childhood stories was the Three Little Pigs. I always loved hearing how the one pig who built his house with bricks saved the other two from the big, bad wolf. That story is much like the Wise and foolish builders. The first two pigs did a “quick fix.”       Building their homes out of sticks and straw was easy, it did not take much time or effort. What they failed to consider was the possibility of a big, bad wolf. They just wanted what was most expedient, a quick home. Not only that, they mocked the third pig for toiling long and hard to build with bricks.

When the “storm” came their houses of stick and straw were blown apart and they fled in a panic scurrying for their lives. The third pig was able to save them because he took the extra time and effort to build wisely. Which pig are you?

It takes more time and effort to build a solid foundation, but the end product, a strong spiritual foundation, is much more rewarding. You can show up for church on Sunday to check it off your list, do a good deed here and there to tell yourself you “did something for God,” act religious with your friends to build a spiritual facade, but in the end it’s only a foundation of sinking sand that will not hold up against the storms of life.

Is your spiritual life more like sticks and straw or is it more like bricks? You will never regret taking the extra time and effort to deepen your walk with the Lord.

Build wisely.