Matthew 6:25-34
Seek God's Kingdom First
25 "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?26 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? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 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? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:9-13
Give Us Today Our Daily Bread
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11
Give us today our daily bread.
12
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
Matthew 6:19-24
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
1 Timothy 6:10
The Love of Money is the Root of All Kinds of Evil
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
John 4:27-38
Jesus' Food is To Do the Will of God
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Romans 7:15-25
Thanks Be to God, Who Gives Me Jesus
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Jesus did not really believe in money, as a way to get material things or to accumulate material things...Because He does not want or desire material things...Jesus did not or does not want to accumulate material things and He does not want us to have a love for accumulating material things...However, being fully human, He would have needed His daily bread and something to drink each day or at least on a regular basis, as He taught on earth...Jesus saw money as one thing, while man sees it as another...Jesus did not love money...And He even saw food differently that we do, I think...When Jesus told His disciples, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work...Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’?...I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!...They are ripe for harvest...Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together...Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true...I sent you to reap what you have not worked for...Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”... And St. Paul said that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil...Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs...
Jesus' food and doing the will of His Father, and Him just talking to an outcast, a Samaritan woman, had opened the eyes of a whole town...Jesus' food and word satisfies our strongest needs and wants...
I used to think that God has allowed me to get a job, and to work, and to provide work for my daily bread...So, I believe that God provides for my daily bread...I still think this...But Jesus puts it in a different Light...He teaches us we should seek first (and I think always) His Kingdom...Then different things will be given to us...But I think my thinking then gets fuzzy on this...God is more important than one's job, and one's daily bread...God does provide for our daily bread, but Jesus as He worked and walked through life, I believe that Jesus looked at His job, as a carpenter, or His ministry providing Him and His disciples His and their daily bread as something else...Job and work takes a back seat in life to God...Everything is Jesus' life was about God...He looked at money, at His meals He would get, and all things as being provided by God...He, I believe, Absolutely thought this...I think sometimes we briefly think this, but I think Jesus is so close to His Father, He knows that His Father is providing all the food and all the things He needed daily and regularly...Jesus at anytime on earth, could have had the best house on earth, and the best transportation on earth...
When Jesus said first seek God and His Kingdom, and those other things we need will come to us...He not only believed this, He lived this way...I believe we often see money as security...Money can be seen as security for our food, clothing, shelter, and other things we want and desire...I believe that Jesus sees God as our security, for our food, our clothing, our shelter, for everything we need...Jesus gave His Father His absolute priority...Some days I slip on this, and my priorities change...Even though I know the importance of the Father and His Son, I do slip...And something in me desires material things...I want to do good, but I cannot quite carry it out...Money, sometimes it seems for me, is a security...What a wretched man I am!...Thanks be to our gracious Father, for sending us Jesus, who died for my sins, and who will rescue me from this body that will die one day, but who will deliver me through His Son...
Faith is very important in my life...And I believe that faith is not about money...I also believe that faith and believing in God and His Son, helps keep us secure...Jesus teaches us that being and living on earth is not about accumulating wealth, it is about seeking the Kingdom of His Father, and doing His Father's will...Jesus lives in the Best House in the universe, because He lives in heaven...Praise the LORD...I thank my Father, for sending me His Son...