Again this morning it is repetition which catches my eye, . . . and engages my mind, . . . and touches my heart. I’m still reading through the Sermon on the Mount. I’ve been through the Beatitudes . . . being salt and light . . . sin in the heart . . . loving my enemies . . . living before God in the secret place . . . being taught how to pray . . . and encouraged to focus more on laying up treasures in heaven than padding my bank account for “you cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). And then, in this mornings reading, I encountered a thrice repeated command . . . three simple words . . . not needing a lot of exegesis to understand what they’re intended to convey . . . easy to say . . . hard to do . . . “Do not worry.”

“Therefore do not worry about your life (6:25) . . . Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ (6:31) . . . Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things (6:34).” Really? Do not worry? Yeah, really.

And the things we are not to worry about are the fundamentals of life . . . what we’ll eat . . . what we’ll drink . . . how we’ll be clothed. I can’t help but think how many people a year ago didn’t give second thought to these things and now are out of work wondering how they’ll make ends meet . . . how they’ll put food on the table . . . how they’ll clothe the family. And for those who are believers, is this for them too? I’m thinking so.

And Jesus says its a matter of faith . . . to worry is to have little faith. We want to say its just being human . . . but like so much of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus kind of backs us into a corner and doesn’t really leave that option open to us. He doesn’t focus on what we are but instead on who God is. He is the One who feeds the birds. Are we not of more value to God than the birds, Jesus asks? The One who clothes the grass of the field, will He not clothe us as well? Does God know what we have need of or doesn’t He? It’s not about who we are or what our circumstance is . . . it’s about what we believe to be true about God and His concern for His children.

Kind of basic . . . but kind of hard, too.

But its not that Jesus says, “Do not worry and do nothing.” Far from it. He says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt 6:33). Now there’s a promise to claim! But again, it’s a faith thing. Can God really be trusted to meet my basic needs if I set my heart on pursuing Him? No matter how you cut it, at the essence of worry is a belief system about God. Sunday’s sermon reminded us that God is all knowing . . . that He is all powerful . . . that He will always accomplish His purposes. True statements? Even in the routine fundamentals of doing life? Yeah . . . true statements. He’s all knowing about my circumstances . . . He’s all powerful to meet my needs . . . He will accomplish His purpose in my life.

If you think about, the believer has placed His eternity in the belief that God has met their greatest need, forgiveness of sin, through the provision of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. It is faith that causes us to rest from worrying about whether or not God will “let us in” to heaven — trusting that the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cleanse us from all sin (1John 1:9) . . . and that the grace of God is sufficient to forgive us our sin because of Christ’s work on the cross. If we would place our eternal destiny in His hands, why do we struggle so much with trusting Him for tomorrow?

I was also reading in the Psalms this morning. David says, “I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Ps. 16:8). Sounds kind of like “seeking first the kingdom of God.” David focused on passionately pursuing God . . . doing all he could to ensure the Lord is before Him and as close as his right hand. And then David writes confidently, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (16:11). Worry or fullness of joy? Anxiety or pleasures at the right hand of God? Seek first the kingdom or seek first our needs? I’m thinking we have a certain amount choice in the matter.

Father, through Your Spirit, help me to so focus on pursuing the kingdom that meeting the needs of the day are put into proper perspective. Continue to teach me how to walk by faith. Continue to show me what it means to trust in the Lord with all my heart . . . and seek not my own understanding . . . to acknowledge You in all my ways . . . confident that You will direct my paths (Prov. 3:5-6). I desire to honor You in the fundamentals . . . for Your glory, amen.