Bible Questions Answered:
“What exactly did Jesus have in mind
when he said we shouldn't be concerned about food to eat or our
clothing to wear? We sure need these things...”
Shondra/ Yorkton, Canada Saskatchewan
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Matthew 6:24-34 NLT
24 “No one can serve two
masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be
devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
money.
25 “That is why I tell you not
to worry about everyday life—whether you have
enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more
than food, and your body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds. They don’t
plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your Heavenly Father
feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are?
27 Can all your worries
add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about
your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow.
They don’t work or make their clothing,
29 yet Solomon in all his glory was
not dressed as beautifully as they are.
30 And if God cares so wonderfully
for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire
tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little
faith?
31 “So don’t worry
(Therefore take no thought*-KJV) about these things, saying,
‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
32 These things dominate the
thoughts of unbelievers, but your Heavenly Father already knows all
your needs.
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all
else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.
Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Thought-Greek:
Merimnao (Mer-im-nah-o): To be anxious: (have) care, take thought.
Mentioned no less
than six times from verse 25-34.
The key verse to
our Lord's teaching is ….
Matthew 6:33 KJV
But seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you.
Matthew 6:33 NLT
Seek the Kingdom
of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you
everything you need.
We live in an evil
world, were men place them selves, and their selfish desires first,
and God, last if at all.
Culinary
(Food) Hedonism.
Fashion
(clothes) Hedonism.
Hedonism:
Pursuit of or
devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses.
(American Heritage
Dictionary)
May the food we
eat, or the clothes we wear, become godlike to some, to the extent
that all else becomes second?
Yes.
This is what our
Lord was warning about!
Do we need food, do
we need clothing, of course, but what our Lord was discussing, was
the extremes to which some people go.
Hard to believe in
a world where so many millions are starving for food, that some must
have above all else, special culinary delights, at no matter the
expense. The best chefs, the best restaurants, etc.
And how they are
boasted about!
And the world of
High Fashion Clothing, is not something to take second place. In a
industry that rings in hundreds of billions of dollars every year,
high fashion clothing is a live or die, must for some.
These are the
extremes that our Lord had reference to.
Our minds, our
hearts are not to be burdened down with such things!
The God who knows
the needs of the birds, and the lilies of the field, knows our needs,
and He will supply.
Matthew 6:32 NLT
These things dominate the thoughts
of unbelievers, but your Heavenly Father already knows all your
needs.
Genesis 22:10-14
KJV
10 And Abraham stretched forth his
hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And The Angel Of The Lord called
unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here
am I.
12 And He said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that
thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son from Me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes,
and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his
horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a
burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah jireh*: as it is said to this day, In the
mount of The Lord it shall be seen.
*Jehovah
Jireh-Hebrew: Yehovah Yireh (Yeh-ho-vaw-yir-eh):
Jehovah will see (to It).
Our Lord, certainly
did “not,” mean that we are to sit back and do nothing for our
food and clothing, and that God would supply everything...that is
definitely not the message here of our Lord.
Proverbs 20:4
KJV
The sluggard
will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in
harvest, and have nothing.
Oh how our enemy
wants to get us too far to the right or too far to the left!
The blessing of the
Lord is to walk the straight and narrow road of making The Lord Jesus
Christ the center (The Lord, The Master) of our lives, with no one,
or anything else!
Matthew 7:13,14
KJV
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate:
for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it.
Exodus 20:3 KJV
Thou shalt have no other gods before
Me.
Romans 14:17 KJV
For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in The Holy
Ghost.
I Timothy 6:5-12
KJV
5 Perverse disputings of men of
corrupt minds, and destitute of The Truth, supposing that gain is
godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
6 But godliness with contentment is
great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this
world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us
be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root
of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee
these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith,
lay hold on eternal life, where unto thou art also called, and hast
professed a good profession before many witnesses.
Lamentations
3:22,23 KJV
22 It is of The Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great
is thy faithfulness.
Philippians 4:11
KJV (The Apostle Paul.)
Not that I speak in respect of want:
for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be
content.
