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Needs. In my front yard I have an ocotillo plant from the
candlewood family. It is a tall, spiny desert plant with many thorny
branches that are topped with a cluster of orange flowers. It looks
like fingers reaching to the sky. It is beautifully green because
it is covered with very small, fine green leaves. Yet, it never waters
itself.
Jesus next illustration is not about ocotillos, but about
lilies and the grass of the field. He uses plants with which his listeners
are familiar.
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? (NASB) Matt. 6:28-30 He tells us that God cares about the plants even though they are later
used as fuel in the furnaces. God cares about grass! But God values us
far more than the grass. When we doubt that God will provide our external
needs, we are people of “little faith.” Of all the Greek
words Jesus could have used, He uses a word that implies our faith is
very, very small and weak. Jesus wants us to know that we can trust Him.
Conclusion. Jesus wants us to know that
God already knows our needs just like He knows the needs of the birds,
lilies, grass of the field, and the Gentiles.
For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (NASB) Matt. 6:32 Remember Jesus was talking to a crowd of Jews who rejected Gentiles.
If God will take care of even the Gentiles, He will take care of them.
But there is an exception to Jesus’ statement. Have you ever wondered
why God causes famines and allows some of us to go hungry? An Old Testament
event gives us the answer.
. . . the LORD . . . will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account . . . to make an end of them by the sword, famine . . .” (NASB) Jeremiah 14:10-12 Why did this happen to Judah? The normal reason is they did not turn
away from their sin! There is one fact about God that we cannot escape.
He is holy and we are not. So Jesus calls us to seek Him - to be holy!
. . . seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (NASB) Matt. 6:32-33 Trusting Him and pursuing holiness is the cure for anxiety!
O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him, there is no want. (NASB) Ps. 34:9 |
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| Sermon on the Mount | |||||
