September 13 – Matthew 6:25-34
Main Focus: The path to trusting God
The pursuit of the kingdom of God works out in the details of one’s personal life. In the context of today’s text Jesus calls his followers to choose their master, either God or wealth, and to choose their outlook on life, either faith or worry.
To lay up yourselves treasures in heaven implies that people often have a choice between activities that lead to greater earthly reward in the present (and those that store up greater future reward in heaven. Elsewhere in the Gospels the consequences of making the wrong choice are shown to be eternally disastrous. Throughout Scripture, the heart refers to the center of one’s being, involving one’s emotions, reason, and will. Matthew 6:22 refers to the eye as a lamp of the body. What does that mean? The eye (similar to the “heart”) is a lamp that reveals the quality of a person’s inner life. A healthy eye (clear vision) suggests loyal devotion to God, while a bad eye (impaired vision) suggests moral corruption.
Jesus says there is no reason that one should be anxious. Jesus gives us two examples as to why we should not be consumed with anxiety —“look at the birds”, “consider the lilies”. Since God cares even for the birds and the lilies, how much more will he care for his own. To be anxious, then, demonstrates a lack of trust in God, who promises that he will graciously care for “all these things”.
Jesus says human beings are of more value than animals because only humans, out of all God’s creatures, are created “in the image of God”, because God gave the human race dominion over all the earth and all its creatures, and because God loved human beings so much “that he gave his only Son” to die for our sins. (See John 3:16)
Jesus says that a life controlled by anxiety is a result of little faith. He isn’t suggesting the absence of faith but rather the deficiency of it. Jesus calls us to reorient our faith away from possession to that which is lasting and eternal – the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Discussion questions
– Worry is often a sign that something besides God has become your ultimate hope, meaning, or functional savior. What finite things in your life (career, approval, comfort, security) tend to act as a “god” that you try to control?
– Anxiety flares up when we try to live in tomorrow and manage outcomes that only God can carry. In what specific areas of your life are you currently trying to bear tomorrow’s weight today?
– How does underlying doubt in God’s goodness or provision fuel your daily anxieties? Where do you find it hardest to believe that your “heavenly Father knows that you need them”?
– Jesus commands us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”. What does it look like practically to seek God’s kingdom first instead of seeking self-salvation or self-protection?
– Verse 34 says each day has enough trouble of its own. What is one concrete way you can surrender tomorrow’s anxieties and practice trusting God’s grace strictly for today?