Friday, September 13, 2013
Don't Worry! Part 20 of 31
TEXT: "Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:25-34).
IDEA: It is evidence that we really trust our Father in heaven when we don't worry.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see that our witness is enhanced by our trust in our heavenly Father.
When you think about our witness to our society, what comes to your mind?
I. Jesus appears to give us two important reasons that we are not to appear worried or frustrated in Matthew 6:32: "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."
If we worry as non-Christians do, it is evident that we have the same goals they have.
If their goals become our goals, then we can't be pursuing kingdom goals because their goals are so different, they deny kingdom goals.
We really deny our faith in our heavenly Father's promise to provide for us.
Jesus says that our Father is well aware of our needs, but our worry shouts that we really don't believe him.
II. Our worries must not sound like those of the people in our society.
A Christian student facing the pressure of an exam must not sound like a non-Christian student.
A Christian who loses a job doesn't complain with the same tone, the same words, the same attitude as those who don't take God seriously.
Our way of handling pressures should be like a motto stamped all over us, "Made in the Kingdom of God."
What difference would this make in government, in a trade union, or in the professions (medicine, law, education, etc.)?
