You may have seen the surveys that show
how much time we waste doing everyday things. We spend like 2 years of our
lives just looking for our keys. We spend 6 years waiting in lines and I’m
pretty sure it’s about a thousand years we spend on hold on the phone trying to
talk to the utility companies. Oh, that’s the worst, with that annoying music
they have while you wait. It’s awful. It’s torture. And don’t get me started
about waiting in the doctor’s office.
Years ago I walked into an antique shop
in south Texas. Nobody was around so I looked for a while and made my way
toward the back where I could hear some noise. I saw a man in the warehouse in
back sitting next to an old chest of drawers or dresser of some kind and he was
scraping the paint off of it with a small chisel or something. I watched him
for a minute and he worked so incredibly slow. He was very meticulous but he
had a lot of work to be done and he was obviously in no hurry.
I politely coughed so he would see me
and know somebody was actually in his store. He looked up and saw me and made
his way up and over to me and introduced himself as the owner. He then said,
and I promise this is true, as he stuck out his hand he said his name was Bob,
or whatever, but his friends called him “Flash”. I assumed it was sort of like
calling a bald guy “Curly” or a big guy “Tiny” because Flash moved so slowly.
I asked him what he was doing and he
told me he was stripping the paint off that dresser. Well, sitting right next
to where he had been sitting was a can of paint stripper. When I asked him why
he didn’t use the paint stripper, he asked me, “Well, then what would I do?”
And I realized that Flash had nothing else to do. He had no customers and
nothing to do so why not make this project last so at least he was doing something?
It’s hard for most of us to relate to
that kind of life. We are all so busy and, yet, we too waste time every day in
some ways. I thought it would be appropriate as we approach the new year to
think of a couple of ways that we could really waste some time. I don’t mean to
waste a little time here and there but some ways that we can really just
totally kill some large blocks of precious time that we will never get back.
And today I want to see how much time
we can lose, waste, or kill when we worry. The Bible speaks several times about
the subject of worry. And we know that we are not to worry but sometimes it
seems so difficult not to. But I think sometimes we don’t realize why God
doesn’t want us to worry. We know that He loves us and cares for us and doesn’t
want us to worry because it’s not best for us.
And that’s true. Matthew 11
says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light.” He loves us and wants us to not be
burdened by worry. And we think that is the only reason why God doesn’t want us
to worry. We think it’s sort of like our friend telling us that we really
should get some exercise. And we know we should and so we do a little bit, but
you know…
This isn’t a friend recommending that
we get a little more exercise. This is a doctor saying that if you don’t get
more exercise then you are not going to live much longer. Every time the Bible
says not to worry, it’s a command. It is just as much a command as “Do not
steal” or “Do not kill.” Worry is a sin and we will see why in Matthew 6:25-34.
You should have a Bible right there in front of you. Turn to the first book in
the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 25-34.
“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
than food, and the body more 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 Can
any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And
why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers 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—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.”
Some of you probably remember the angst of being a teenager. For
some of you, that may just be too long ago and you don’t remember but for those
who do, you know the frustration of being told not to do something. To add to
that frustration, you were not told why you shouldn’t do that thing you wanted
to do and no other options were given. “Don’t do it.” Period. That used to
drive me crazy. If I can’t do something, tell me why and then give me something
else I can do.
Well, Jesus obviously understands that horrible angst. He
understands how mistreated we all were as teens. J Because in this passage, He tells us not to worry and then
He tells us why we shouldn’t. He then goes on to tell us what we
should do and why we should do that. And the thing He tells us not to do
is worry, right there in verse 25. And you understand that when Jesus
says not to do something, it’s not a suggestion. It’s not something we should
really try to do, you know, when we can and when we really get spiritual.
But this is difficult for us especially
in this instance because what is it specifically that Jesus is telling us not
to worry about? He tells us not to worry about what we will eat and what we
will wear. I happen to like this command because in studying this passage I
looked up the word that is translated “food” and it specifically is talking
about vegetables. Jesus is telling us not to worry about eating a lot of
vegetables. And does it look like I’m really worried about what I wear?
Ok, the veggie part is not really true.
I wish it were true. But it is difficult for us sometimes to follow this
command. We live in a world that says we have to look out for #1 and if we
don’t then no one will. The thing is, the world doesn’t know our God. The world
doesn’t know, and we too often forget, that the same God that loved us so much
that He sent His only Son to be our sacrifice, also has proven His love to all
of mankind since at least Genesis chapter 3 where He personally made
clothes out of animal skin for Adam and Eve. Yes, bikers were not the first
ones to wear leather. That’s been around a while.
When there was absolutely nothing to
eat out in the desert, God provided manna and quail and water from a rock. When
Elijah needed food, God commanded the ravens to bring him bread and meat. At
the end of a 40 day fast, God commanded angels to give Jesus what He needed.
Jesus fed thousands of people from a few loaves and fishes. God has provided
even here with a food pantry that has helped hundreds of times and yet some of
us here today worry that we are not going to have what we need.
We see all that God has done in the
past and we believe it or at least we say we believe it and yet something in
the back of our minds says, “I’m going to be the first one. I’m going to be
the first child of God to ever be forgotten by the all-knowing, all-powerful
God who lied when He said He would provide for me.” That’s what you’re
saying when you worry about anything. It’s actually a form of atheism. You say
you believe in God with your words but your actions say differently. Your
actions say God is not able or that he is not aware. And that is an insult to
God.
God never promises wealth or health or
that we will have more than we need. He doesn’t even promise that we won’t miss
a meal or two. But He promises to give us everything we need and to worry about
that stuff is a sin. And Jesus even tells us why it’s a sin. We have seen what
we are not supposed to do. Now let’s see why we are not supposed to worry. Look
at the end of verse 30.
“O you of little faith.” When we
worry we show our lack of faith. During an especially trying time in the work
of the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor wrote to his wife, "We
have twenty-five cents--and all the promises of God!” W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe
Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 242.
I don’t understand preachers who stand
up here and preach health and wealth. There is no biblical basis for that
teaching. But I also don’t understand the one who worries about God meeting
their needs. The Bible and our own lives are full of examples of that. Hebrews
11:6says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
Jesus tells us here not to worry about
our food and clothes because that shows a lack of faith in God and that
displeases God. But He goes on to tell us what we are to do in verse 33.
This is such a powerful verse. You need to memorize this verse and say it to
yourself several times every day. Every time you feel yourself starting to
worry about something that you can’t control, say “I will seek His kingdom
and His righteousness first.”
But what does it really mean to seek
first His Kingdom? Every decision you have to make – every one – ought to be
prefaced by the question: what will the implications of my decision be? Will it
draw people to the Kingdom or away from the Kingdom? Will what I do bring
people to Jesus or away from Jesus? Will it make Him look good or bad?
Will this kind of toothpaste bring
glory or would that kind? If it doesn’t matter, then it doesn’t matter but it
ought to be so ingrained in you that the first thing you think when you do
anything is what will this do for the Kingdom of God? Whatever I say, whatever
I wear, my hobbies, how I drive, what I watch on TV, the friends I have, the
car I drive – what does it say about my relationship with God? Can I do this
thing while at the same time lead someone through the Gospel? Seek first His
Kingdom.
But also seek first His righteousness.
Seek first what God says to do. Seek first what pleases God. Do what He says,
not what you want Him to say or what you would say if you were God. And there
is a real simple way of knowing what God wants. It’s simple to know what God
says is right and just. Just read it. Read the Word and pray over it.
And do you know what will happen when
you do those things? When you stop worrying about whether or not God will
provide; when you quit worrying about if you are going to have enough money to
pay bills; when you stop worrying about stuff and start proving to God that you
are not worried by giving away what you do have; when you do those things, verse
34 says that all that stuff will be added to you. When you worry, no
guarantees. Stop worrying and watch how God provides.
I referenced Hebrews 11:6a few
minutes ago but the end of that verse says, “He rewards those who seek him.”
Those rewards may or may not be financial or physical. The Bible doesn’t
promise that. But it also says in 1 Samuel 26:23 that “The Lord rewards everyone for their
righteousness and faithfulness.” Psalm 18:24 says, “The LORD has rewarded
me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in
his sight.” One more: Isaiah 62:11 says, “The LORD has made
proclamation to the ends of the earth: "Say to Daughter Zion, 'See, your
Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.'"
When the first thing you do is seek Him
and His Kingdom and His righteousness, you will be rewarded. And for
young Christians that may be why you seek Him – for the reward. But as
your relationship with Jesus grows, you start to realize the reward that is
getting to know Him better. When you start to see your life change and
then others are affected by you and you see their lives change then you realize
that God really can be trusted. And your worries, especially about
temporal things like money and stuff just start to disappear.
And you won’t waste any more time
worrying. Oh, you’ll still waste time at the doctors’ office even though
you made an appointment 3 weeks ago but you won’t worry even about that.
You may get angry but don’t worry. That subject is next week.
Invitation
Great Is the Lord - 12
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