Worry - Part 1
Money
Matthew 6v25a
14th July 2012
Jesus said:
Matthew 6v25a
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what
you will wear.
But for many people, worrying is a big part of their lives. For the English, at least, worrying seems to be a bit like talking about the weather or complaining about the government. It's something we just do. It's an ingrained habit, and it's such a waste of time and emotion! How much better would we feel, how much more energy and time would we have, if we didn't spend so much time worrying?
Wouldn't it be great if we all just stopped worrying? But if we decided today to stop worrying, how long would we last before we started worrying again?Although it's highly unlikely that a simple decision to stop worrying would enable us never to worry again, we can choose to train ourselves not to worry, to get our thinking right, and to exercise self-discipine. There are steps we can take that will result in us worrying a great deal less than we do now.
A Christian will not be surprised to learn that the first of these steps involves repentance. Jesus explains this in verses 19-24, the part of the Sermon on the Mount that immediately preceeds the words we're looking at now. There, Jesus talks about two kinds of treasure: treasure on Earth and treasure in Heaven. He ends that section by saying:
Matthew 6v24
"No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
The word "therefore" at the start of our verse - verse 25 - links it to the preceeding verses. Put simply, choosing to serve God necessarily involves choosing not to serve money. Because our focus is on pleasing God, not accumulating wealth, we need not - and must not - worry about money or what it buys. Money must not be our master. And if we serve and trust God, then we don't need to worry about money. God will provide.
Psalm 37v25
I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
1 Peter 5v6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
For many Christians, the idea that we can trust God to provide for our material needs is one of the hardest adustments to our thinking that we will ever make. But He is Lord of all, and He loves us. And if we'd put our trust in Him - for everything we need, not only for salvation - we'll be much happier, much more productive people. Many of us agree with this in theory, but find it hard to ask God to make decisions for us that may affect our finances. If you find this difficult, then pray - asking God to give you a revelation of how much He cares for you and how trustworthy He is. But understand that God calls all His people to this change of thinking:
Colossians 3v5
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil
desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Greed for money is idolatry. It's making money our master, which necessarily involves making God not our master.
We can stop worrying about money, if we stop serving money and serve God with our whole hearts.
But many Christians will accept a new job because it offers more money, without considering the effect on their family, or their church, or their neighbours. Many will move home to take a new job without even checking to see if there's a suitable church near where they're moving to. It's as if we take for granted that God wants us to make as much money as we (legitimately) can. But do we pray first, submitting the idea of a career move to God, with hearts that will respond if God says "no"?
1 Timothy 6v6-12
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge men into ruin and destruction.
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.
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and
gentleness.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called...
If money is what we serve, we cannot expect to stop worrying about money. And we cannot expect to enjoy our relationship with God fully. But godliness with contentment is great gain. And it's available to all who are willing to put God first.